Used and Abused
by DCFanatic4life
Summary: Chris likes Stephanie, Stephanie likes another guy...how can they both get what they want? Steph will figure something out... Completed
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or real people in this story. The characters belong to Vince McMahon and WWE, and the real people belong to themselves.  
  
A/N: Another day, another fic. Just thought of this one the other day and the muses were begging for it to be written and who am I to say no to them? They do keep me occupied, that's for sure, so I guess I can't complain that they want more. It could be worse, I could be writing nothing and have no muses.

And in this, Stephanie isn't married to H...obviously you'd get that when you're reading, but yeah, just for clarification.  
  
So enjoy the fic, hopefully, and be brutal if you want to, be scathing if you need to, be praising if you absolutely have to. ;) And don't forget to let me know if I should continue (even though I probably will regardless).

* * *

She stared at him out of the corner of her eye. She was trying to appear nonchalant, but in fact, her stare was deep and intent. God, she wanted that man. Everything about him exuded sexiness and she traced his muscles with her eyes. Even with his shirt on, she could see all the definitions of his muscular chest. God, she wanted to touch that chest.  
  
She could feel herself kissing him now, touching him, letting him touch her. She looked down quickly, a blush creeping onto her cheek, setting her pretty blue eyes ablaze. The thoughts running through her mind were about as impure as you could get and the embarrassment washed over her cheeks. She couldn't look down for long though because her eyes were drifting back to him.  
  
She couldn't stop staring, no matter how hard she tried. If she did try, they would develop a mind of their own and she'd find herself staring at him again. It was like an affliction, a bad habit, one she had no desire to break. Stephanie sighed and went back to her papers. That's all she had nowadays, papers, endless papers. If only the man of her dreams would come and whisk her away.  
  
"Hi Stephanie."  
  
She looked up and smiled lightly, "Hello Chris."  
  
"Mind if I sit?"  
  
She glanced around, "No, go ahead."  
  
"Thanks," he said, grabbing a chair and flipping it around, sitting in it backwards as he leaned his arms on the back of the chair, "So what're you doing?"  
  
"Work," she said sharply, "Couldn't you tell?"  
  
"Yeah, I was just wondering what kind of work?" He never knew what to say around her. She made him so damn nervous because she was so beautiful and the way her bangs fell into her eyes made him want to run his hands through her hair. He almost reached his hand out. Almost.  
  
"Script stuff, don't worry about it," she said, dismissively, hoping that he would get the point. She looked at him pointedly. She knew he liked her, she had known for months, but she didn't really care. If only he would leave so she could go back to looking at the object of her affection uninterrupted.  
  
"Anything good?" He just didn't quit!  
  
"Nope, nothing at all, I'm just reviewing current storylines," she said, "Hard work, but someone has to do it." She hoped he got the point with her hard work comment.  
  
"Oh, hey Steph?"  
  
"What Chris?"  
  
"Would you, um, like, um," he stammered, not finding the right words.  
  
Stephanie smiled at him, "Chris, I know you like me, and I'm flattered, but there will never be anything between the two of us. I'm sorry if I've ever gotten your hopes up, but nothing will EVER happen between us. I don't like you like that alright?"  
  
He looked crestfallen and she felt bad for a moment. She hadn't meant to hurt him, but he was becoming more and more pathetic and she had to do something to get him away from her. He nodded his head slowly, as if he were deliberating her words in his mind, saying them over and over to make sense of them.  
  
"Oh, I guess I was stupid to come over," he said quietly, feeling a little bit heartbroken. He could have all the women in the world, except one, and she was the one he wanted, wasn't life grand?  
  
"It wasn't stupid, you just need to face the facts," she told him, "I'm sorry if I sound like a bitch."  
  
"No," he said, "You didn't, you were just telling me the truth. I have to respect that."  
  
"Chris, please don't be upset. You don't want me anyways, I'm horrible."  
  
Chris sighed and looked at her. Not want her? The only thing he had ever wanted was her. He could make so many things happen. He was successful in so many things, but this one thing was so difficult for him. How could he not be upset when the woman of his dreams was rejecting him?  
  
"I don't think you're horrible," he whispered.  
  
"Thanks," she said sincerely, "I just didn't want to string you along."  
  
"No, you're right, you're absolutely right," he said, "I was foolish to think I had a chance."  
  
Before she could answer, he was up and out of his seat. She turned to watch him walk out of the room, his hands shoved in his pockets and his head down. She sighed heavily and went back to looking at him. She was disappointed to find that he had left. Great, now she had to actually do work. Unless...unless she went to go talk to him. She could cover it up and say that she was just discussing business. Satisfied with that explanation, she gathered her papers together and stood up. She walked down the hallways quickly, scanning ahead for the man she adored. She saw him leaning up against the wall, looking at what appeared to be a script. What a perfect opportunity for her to talk to him.  
  
She tossed her hair back and then walked up to him. He looked over at her and smiled a little before going back to the script. Well, he acknowledged her presence, that was a step in the right direction. She took him in for a second, he was so strong and handsome, everything she had ever wanted in a man.  
  
"Want anything?"  
  
She nodded, "I was just wondering how you liked where your character was going," she said coyly, "I write it personally."  
  
"It's great, I have a lot of...anger," he said, raising his eyebrows a little like that was supposed to be amusing. She giggled anyways, even if it wasn't meant to be funny. He could say something completely stupid right now and she would've found it hilarious.  
  
"Yeah, we wanted to go that direction with your character, but if you don't like that, we can easily make you more of a team player or something," she said quickly, wanting to make him as comfortable on the show as possible.  
  
"No, I think it suits me for now. You know, I am trying to be intimidating and everything."  
  
"Yeah, but we just want to try to make everyone happy you know. That's what I try to do, make everyone happy." That was a lie, but for him, she would say anything. All he had to do was give the word and she would completely re-write everything for him.  
  
"I'm happy with where I am. I'm still learning the ropes and it doesn't hurt to learn from the best, but thanks for asking."  
  
"Oh, you're welcome," she smiled broadly, "I must say though, we're all very high on you in management, we think you're really going places. I can definitely see you as a World Title holder, you know, main-eventer. The whole thing."  
  
"I'm glad you guys have confidence in me," he said, "I'll have to make sure that I can live up to all those expectations."  
  
"I wouldn't worry too much about that. From what we've seen so far, you are more than making your impression around here."  
  
"Great, I'm looking forward to the show tonight, looks like I have a great match," he said, gesturing towards the script.  
  
"Yeah, we want you to look good out there. With Brock being gone, we think you are the next monster guy around here," she told him. She looked over him again and saw that he would make one hell of a wrestler, he DID make one hell of a wrestler. If only he was in his wrestling tights right now, she could ogle him a little bit more.  
  
"You seem to think very highly of me Ms. McMahon," he said with a smile that almost made her melt.  
  
"You know you can call me Stephanie right?"  
  
"I know, but when I'm addressing you as my boss, shouldn't I refer to you as Ms. McMahon?"  
  
She was about to tell him that he could call her anything he wanted, but bit her tongue on that, "Call me Stephanie. I'm not like my father who insists that if you aren't his friend you call him Mr. McMahon. I want everyone to know they can talk to me...whenever." She added a little extra emphasis on that last word.  
  
"I'll keep that in mind...Stephanie."  
  
She smiled, "Good, I hope you do."  
  
"Is that all you wanted from me? Cause I have some things I need to do."  
  
"Oh," she said, with a tinge of disappointment in her voice, "Yeah, that was it."  
  
"Ok, see you," he said, turning his back on her, to see Stacy a little ways down the hallway, "Hey Stace, you are looking so sexy tonight!"  
  
Stacy turned around and giggled, "Don't let Andrew hear you say that."  
  
"Let him, you look hot in that skirt," he said, walking over to her. They started walking away.  
  
Stephanie watched his retreating figure and felt green with envy as she saw Stacy laughing and talking with the guy that should've been HERS. He should want to talk to her, and compliment her on what she was wearing. So she didn't wear the skimpy, barely there kind of skirts that Stacy wore, she still had a lot of style and grace and deserved better than to just be looked at as the boss. She wanted him so badly, she should have him. She would have him, if she had her way. And she always got her way.  
  
Why did she have to fall for Dave Batista? 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Ok, flames don't bother me, obviously, because I tell people to be brutal, but I have to say this. Fed Up, I'm fed up with you, plain and simple. Now, if you were criticizing my writing, that would be fine, I could care less... but it's more than that now. Once you uttered the words, "played out," in reference to Jericho and Stephanie, then it became my business to step in and say something. I was going to bitch you out, but you're not even worthy of that. So I'll just say a few things. Stephanie and Chris are not "played out," nor will they ever be "played out" if I have anything to say about it. I also think it's foolish of you to apparently seek out and read my fics simply to comment on how "played out" my favorite couple EVER is. So sweetheart, if you don't like them, don't read them and don't press your opinions on me of all people, because, in case you couldn't tell, I'm a HUGE Jericho/Steph fan.

And next time you want to tell me something, you e-mail me, or you IM me, don't hide behind an anonymous review, you want to come after something I love, you come after me full force, and then, THEN you will see how dead serious I am right now.  
  
Thanks for the review though. :)

* * *

Stephanie McMahon was used to getting exactly what she wanted, and to think that there was something she couldn't get troubled her to no end. Dave Batista was what she wanted and she'd be damned if she didn't get him. Her not getting something was like the sun not rising in the morning; it just didn't happen. The only problem was that Dave didn't know her as anything but her boss.  
  
Maybe, maybe if he had come into the company earlier, when she wasn't management, maybe then he wouldn't look at her as just the person who signed his paycheck, or wrote a part for him to play. He would've seen her as one of the wrestlers, well, one of the on-screen personalities. Before she was management, before she was head of creative, before everything.  
  
But no, that's not how it worked out, and now Dave didn't even look at her the way she wanted. She was Stephanie McMahon damn it, and if she wanted Dave, then she would get him. She was capable of many things and being as vindictive and calculating as she needed to be was on top of that list.  
  
She just needed Dave to notice her, to see that she wasn't above him in any way whatsoever. But how could she accomplish that without coming outright and saying that she was just a normal person? She could show him maybe, show him that she could be with him, that just because she had a position within the company, an important position that she didn't mind dating a wrestler.  
  
She smiled to herself as she thought of the perfect way to get what she wanted.  
  
Chris sat in his hotel room and sulked. He should've figured out that Stephanie was way, WAY out of his league, but he had to take a chance. He had watched her for so long, had worked with her so intensely it would've been crazy for him not to find some sort of attraction in her. Then those kisses they shared during the shows, sure they had been written in, but he hadn't been prepared for how sweet her lips had tasted.  
  
He got up and lay on his hotel bed, staring up at the ceiling, but not finding anything interesting there. Nothing was interesting. Not right now anyways. He was wallowing and he knew it. That was the only way he was going to get over this thing he had for Stephanie. In the long run, it was probably better she had turned him down. He couldn't imagine how it would feel if he had had her and then she had dumped him.  
  
He was a tough guy, who had been felled by one woman. Wasn't that how it always went down in history? You had this incredibly masculine guy, willing to do anything, on top of their game at all times, and they were completely flummoxed by one woman, who had the power to control them with the flick of a wrist. This was a case of that, but he had never gotten the chance to be wrapped around Stephanie's finger.  
  
He was almost ashamed to feel this way, when he should've known all along that he could never get someone like Stephanie. With the kind of power that she held and the power behind her last name, she wouldn't want him, cocky, brash wrestler that he was. He should settle or something, settle for someone who was more his league. Maybe Trish was available.  
  
A knock came on his door and he contemplated just tuning it out and going back to his wallowing, which was much more fun anyways. Ok, so it wasn't fun, but he didn't want to see anyone right now. The knocking persisted and he was getting annoyed by it so he got up to answer the door. He physically took a step back as he saw Stephanie standing there.  
  
She wasn't wearing the same clothes as earlier though, she looked so much hotter. She was wearing a light gray pantsuit, but with no shirt under the suit jacket. He couldn't see a bra in sight, but didn't even want to go there. Her hair was meticulously done as usual and her eyes were smoky and staring up at his. He stood there for a moment in complete rapture.  
  
"Steph, what are you doing here?"  
  
"I came to see you silly."  
  
He looked around, "Why?"  
  
"Can I come in?" she asked sweetly.  
  
He stepped out of the way to let her in, and she stepped inside, brushing her arm against his chest. Chris shuddered slightly at the contact as she went to stand in the middle of the room. He closed the door, more out of instinct than actually being conscious of closing the door. He was just captivated by her, like he always was, but she was now standing in the middle of his hotel room.  
  
"Were you sleeping?" she asked, looking at his boxers, as that was the only article of clothing that he was currently wearing.  
  
"Um, no, I was just...watching television, um, once again, what are you doing here?"  
  
"Well, you see Chris, I was thinking about what you told me today, and well, I was really flattered and all..."  
  
"Steph, can we please forget that I said anything, I'm already really embarrassed by what I said, and I'd really rather forget the incident altogether."  
  
"Oh, if that's how you feel," she said softly, going to walk back to the door, "I was going to say that I had been thinking about it and it didn't sound so bad after all."  
  
Chris stepped in front of her quickly, blocking her exit from the room. Stephanie had been banking on that reaction from him. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but sometimes in life, the end had to justify the means, and if this was the only way she could get Dave to notice her and want to be with her, then she was going to have to take the chance.  
  
"You did?" he asked incredulously, not believing her for a moment, because it was just...too great to be the truth.  
  
"Yeah, I mean, I think I was awful rude to you today and you had done nothing wrong, in fact, you did everything right."  
  
"I did?"  
  
"Yeah, I was just too pre-occupied to realize it," she said demurely, looking down momentarily, "I've been so lonely."  
  
"I have too," he said, "Traveling is hard."  
  
"Yes, it is, and not to mention all the work I have to do. It gets so hard sometimes to not have somebody by your side, trying to help you and understand you," she said, running her finger down his arm.  
  
"You don't have to be alone you know."  
  
"I don't?" she asked coyly.  
  
"Well, you're here aren't you?"  
  
"I didn't even know if you'd be awake, I was working all night long, and I'm so fucking tired," she said, yawning for added effect, "My dad just piles on the work for me, I guess I deserve it for being the head of Creative, but sometimes, it's just too much."  
  
"I'm sorry you have so much work," he whispered, taking a step closer to her.  
  
"Why should you be sorry?"  
  
"Because you shouldn't be working your fingers to the bone," he told her, holding her hands in his and rubbing her fingers lightly, "Especially when they're as beautiful as these."  
  
"That was pretty corny Chris," she said, but she was kidding of course. She did like Chris, to a certain extent. He was a nice guy, and everyone liked him. You couldn't help but like him, he had such a magnetic personality.  
  
"Sorry," he laughed, "You have ugly horrible hands."  
  
"That's better," she told him and stared into his eyes, "But luckily I have such good friends around me."  
  
"Yeah, that's always nice," he said, dropping her hands again, realizing that she hadn't come here for the reason that he had wanted her to come here for. Damn him for getting his hopes up again. Just when he thought he was out, she'd pull him back in.  
  
"We're friends aren't we?"  
  
"Yeah, we're friends," he told her.  
  
"Good, I didn't want that little incident earlier to interfere in our friendship," she told him.  
  
He stared at her and thought that if he couldn't have her like he wanted, then being her friend would be the next best thing. Sometimes in life, no matter how hard you wish and hope and pray, you don't get what you want. It was a fact that unfortunately he was going to have to deal with at the present moment.  
  
"It didn't," he reassured her, "We're just as good friends now as we were yesterday."  
  
"Good," she nodded, then stopped to look at him, "You know Chris...no, never mind, I'm just being foolish now."  
  
"Steph, it's ok, whatever you want to say, I don't care," he said, being the nice, supportive friend, a role he seemed destined to forever play in Stephanie's life.  
  
She took a step closer to him, closing the thin gap they had been holding onto for the duration of this conversation. Chris's breath caught in his throat as he inhaled the sweet scent of her perfume. She was standing way too close for comfort now and he went to take a step back when she grabbed his wrist, not too hard, but enough for him to stop his movement.  
  
"Friends do stuff sometimes," she told him, gazing up at him, daring him to say something.  
  
"Th--they do?" he gulped.  
  
"Uh huh," she nodded, "And sometimes, friends become...more than friends."  
  
He stared at her, literally frozen in place. He didn't know what she meant by that, didn't even know where to grasp that statement. Instead of him grasping that statement, Stephanie grasped his upper arm and leaned up the short distance to his lips, kissing him softly. Chris felt like he was in heaven and he might as well die right now, because nothing was going to top this moment. He almost wished for death to come because he might as well go out on top.  
  
She pulled away with an, "Mmm," and grinned against his lips. Chris stood still, but Stephanie took the initiative and wrapped his arms around her waist. With this prompting, Chris pulled her closer and then kissed her again, this time with more passion and a lot more tongue than before. Stephanie let herself fall into his embrace, and they both pulled away breathless as Stephanie brought her thumb up to rub away the lipstick that had smudged onto his lips.  
  
"That was nice," she said with a small smile.  
  
"It really was," Chris said quietly, still digesting what had just occurred. His world was suddenly turned upside down. Did this mean that Stephanie wanted him? He could only hope it did. "What was that about?"  
  
"Well, I couldn't bear to see you the way you were earlier and it hurt me to see you so hurt, and Chris, I don't want you to hurt because of me."  
  
"Steph, I would've been fine," he said, then mentally slapping himself for saying that, like he didn't want her to kiss him or something. "What I meant was--"  
  
"So you didn't want me kissing you?" she asked, pouting a little, "Well, if that's what you want..."  
  
"No! That's not what I want at all."  
  
"Good," she smiled, "Because that's not what I wanted either, not at all."  
  
"What did you want?" he said, starting to get into this whole flirtation thing they had going right now. Might as well enjoy the ride while he was on it.  
  
"Well, I want a lot of things really," she said, her voice seductive.  
  
"Like?"  
  
"You, but that's only one thing I want," she told him. So she was lying, she'd probably go to hell, but she was desperate now. Desperate enough to use this man as a pawn in her scheme. She almost felt bad as she looked into his hungry eyes, but that soon dissipated as she thought about what SHE wanted.  
  
"Well, I think I can help you with that first one."  
  
"Can you?"  
  
"If you want me to that is."  
  
She licked her lips a little, though they didn't need wetting since his tongue had been running over them not a couple minutes before. She leaned in again to capture his lips in hers and made the kiss deep and full of need. In some ways, she did need him. She hadn't been with a guy since...well, since she had dated Hunter. They had even gotten engaged, but that turned out to be a bust, seeing as how he was cheating behind her back. No harm though, because by that time she had spent a lot of time with Dave since him and Hunter were in Evolution together, and she had completely fallen for Dave. He was so strong and everything.  
  
And she had broken it off with Hunter a while ago and hadn't been with a guy since. And before Hunter there had only been a couple of guys. She was hardly the slut that people made her out to be, or the idiot they thought she was. But that didn't matter now, because she was going to give Chris something he wanted, and she was going to get something she wanted in return, even if Chris didn't know that's what he was doing.  
  
He gripped her by the hair, his hands tangling in her dark locks, pulling her unbelievably close. She concentrated solely on him for the moment and she held onto him tightly. She wanted to control the pace of this, to effectively hold out until he couldn't bear it any longer. It was hard, because Chris was a pretty good kisser and his fingers were gently massaging her scalp in the most delightful way. Then her breasts were pushed up against his muscular chest and that, in and of itself, was distracting, for the both of them.  
  
Stephanie pulled away from him, gasping for air and stared into his eyes, "Wow, that was...wow."  
  
Chris took a deep breath, "Yeah, maybe you should go before this gets too...um...heated."  
  
"More than it already is?" she asked incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, because I'm two seconds away from doing something that you might not take too kindly to."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Yeah, and I don't want to disrupt whatever it is we have going here," he told her honestly.  
  
She took another deep breath and grabbed his left arm with her right hand and brought it up slowly. She raised an eyebrow and then slipped his hand into her suit jacket. She brought his hand onto her breast and threw her head back, smiling lasciviously. Chris blinked slowly, his jaw dropping a little as he traced the top of her strapless, lace bra with his thumb.  
  
"I caught you looking to see if I had a bra on," she told him, "There's your answer."  
  
He gulped, then breathed out one word, "Steph..."  
  
"Come on Chris, do what you want to me?"  
  
"You don't know what you're saying."  
  
Instead of answering, she unbuttoned the buttons on her jacket and let it fall to the floor in a heap. She stood there in just her bra and slacks and smiled at Chris, taking his hand off of her breast, much to his disappointment, but keeping it in hers as she pulled him into the bedroom.  
  
Chris could do nothing buy follow. 


	3. Chapter 3

Stephanie stretched in the large bed, burying her head in the plush pillows of the bed. Last night had been a good time. She was glad she had picked Chris as her stepping stone, because the man was great in bed. They had spent most of the night wrapped up in each other, touching and feeling each other and it had been great fun.  
  
"Morning."  
  
She jumped and looked at him, "You scared me!"  
  
"Sorry...but imagine my surprise when I saw you were still here when I woke up."  
  
"Where did you think I would be?" she asked as she rolled over to lay in his arms.  
  
"Either I had been dreaming, which did seem like a good possibility after last night, or you had left, figuring that you made a stupid mistake."  
  
"After last night? No way! It was too much fun. Not to mention, I don't think I can walk after last night."  
  
"I'll take that as a compliment."  
  
"You should," she giggled as she took his hands and put them about her bare stomach. "Do you want to get breakfast?"  
  
"Well, I might, but I think that there's something I want more."  
  
She turned herself over so that she was lying on top of him. Her bare, naked body pressed against this, tantalizing him. She leaned down to kiss him, rubbing her breasts against him, a moan rising in his throat as the room seemed to get a hundred degrees hotter. Their kisses turned heated for a moment, before Stephanie broke the kiss briefly.  
  
"What about breakfast?" she said against his mouth.  
  
"That can wait."  
  
Even if she wanted Dave heart and soul, her body was craving Chris at the moment. She couldn't get enough of him, he was intoxicating and she hadn't expected that at all, but once he had laid her on the bed last night, she had lost herself in his arms, kisses, and tender touches. It almost made her forget about Dave for a little while, almost. She was content to be with him again, hell, she could be with him for the rest of the day and she would be perfectly happy.  
  
After a couple of hours, Stephanie collapsed against Chris's chest and sighed deeply. Chris stroked her wet and matted hair against her back as she tried to get her breath back. She leaned up to look at him and he kissed her forehead. She smiled back, despite herself.  
  
"So about that breakfast?" he asked with a grin.  
  
"I'm starving," she said, "Absolutely starving."  
  
"I guess all the sex worked up an appetite."  
  
"I think it did."  
  
"Before we go though Steph...um...what is this?"  
  
She looked at him, pretending to be confused. She knew that he was going to ask these questions, and she had been planning on that. She had hoped that the conversation would go in this direction, because she wanted to make it clear what he was to her...or at least what she wanted him to be to her.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, are we like...together now? Or are we like...well, are we just fucking each other with nothing behind it?"  
  
She kissed him softly, "I like that first option better."  
  
"Really?" He sounded genuinely shocked.  
  
"Well, only if you really want to," she said flirting with him, though the time for flirting had really passed when the clothes had been taken off.  
  
"I do!" he said, eagerly, as she giggled coyly at his tone.  
  
"Good, we're on the same page then."  
  
She got out of bed then and Chris watched her walk naked across the room, bending every so often to pick up her discarded clothes. She smirked at him once and he just sat back against the headboard, smiling at her. She gave him a little dance and he laughed. Instead of stripping her clothes, she did a reverse striptease and got dressed while teasing him with a little skin every now and then.  
  
"I thought you were hungry," Stephanie said as she buttoned the last of her buttons.  
  
"I am, but I was having too much fun watching you."  
  
"Understandable, I am hard to take your eyes off of."  
  
Chris just nodded and stood up, grabbing his boxers along the way. He threw on some jogging pants and a shirt as he ran his hand through his hair, pulling it back quickly as Stephanie came to assault his neck with her mouth. He grabbed her hand as they walked out of the bedroom. She tried to fix her hair quickly, but she really didn't care how she looked.  
  
They stopped at Stephanie's bedroom so she could change into something more comfortable. She went into her suitcase and pulled out the picture of Dave that she had from when she had been dating Hunter. She sighed to herself and stuck it back in her suitcase. She put on some jeans and a v-neck top. Chris was waiting for her on the couch and she gave a little twirl when she walked out of the bedroom. He stood up and took her by the hand again, not wanting to lose contact with her.  
  
"I just need to bring a few files with me," Stephanie said to him, going over to her bag, bringing Chris along with her, "My dad wants to have a meeting today, and I need to be prepared."  
  
"Do you have to?"  
  
"Yeah, sorry Chris, last night was pleasure and now it's time for work."  
  
"Fine, I guess I can give you up for a little while."  
  
She grabbed her things and they went down to the lobby and into the little diner that was adjoined to the hotel. It was always convenient to have one of those. They took a seat near the windows and had to break their hands apart in order to look at their menus. Stephanie hadn't been lying when she had said that she was starving and decided on some pancakes and bacon with a side of hash browns. Chris ordered the same thing.  
  
"Oh shit," Stephanie said as she looked at her files, "I brought the wrong files with me, let me run up to my room and get them."  
  
"Ok, but hurry back."  
  
She leaned across the table to peck him on the lips, "I will, don't worry, I'm afraid you'd steal my pancakes if I didn't come back soon."  
  
She kissed him again and he followed her with his eyes as she walked briskly out of the diner and into the hotel itself. He sipped at his coffee with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Last night and this morning had been beyond anything he ever could've imagined. Not only had he gotten laid, which in and of itself was great, but he had done it with Stephanie, STEPHANIE fucking MCMAHON!  
  
"Did I just see you kissing Stephanie McMahon."  
  
"You did," Chris said nonchalantly.  
  
"You were kissing Stephanie McMahon."  
  
"I was most definitely kissing Stephanie McMahon."  
  
"When did you get with Stephanie," Rhyno said, sitting himself down in Stephanie's chair.  
  
"Since last night, and that's her seat, so you better be out of it by the time she gets back here," Chris told his friend.  
  
"You and Stephanie McMahon," Rhyno laughed, "How did you even manage to get her? I thought she told you she didn't want you."  
  
"That's what she did tell me...then last night, she showed up at my room, and one thing led to another..."  
  
"You got laid!"  
  
"Ok, say it a little louder next time," Chris said, looking around to an older couple who had looked at him, shaking their heads in disgust.  
  
"Did something happen to her? Maybe she came to you for comfort."  
  
"I thought that, but then this morning, she was still there and she wants to be with me...I'm still in shock over it. Do you know how long I've liked her."  
  
"Yeah, I'm your friend, I've heard how much."  
  
"I don't know what I deserved to be this lucky."  
  
Stephanie grabbed her files from her briefcase and looked through them to make sure they were the right ones. Finding that they were, she left her room and was walking down the hall, looking through them as she was walking. She bumped into something solid, sending her papers flying everywhere.  
  
"Watch where you're going!" she yelled as she bent over to pick up her papers.  
  
"Whatever," said the girl who had bumped into her as she stepped over the papers to the elevator. Stephanie gave her back a dirty look, if she knew who she was, she would've slapped them for taking that tone to her. Instead, she went back to picking up the papers until a second pair of hands joined her.  
  
"You looked like you needed some help."  
  
She looked up into the gorgeously mysterious eyes of Dave, "Thanks, some bitch ran into me and knocked everything everywhere."  
  
"And didn't bother to help?" Dave asked.  
  
"No, I guess she didn't have any manners."  
  
"Apparently," Dave said.  
  
Stephanie smiled shyly. He was so sweet to help her, even when he didn't have to. Her hand brushed against his and she could've sworn that a jolt of electricity passed between them. She pulled her hand back and looked up at him. He was smiling at her as he handed her the last of her papers. She almost lost herself in that smile. "Thanks," she said quietly as she took the paper from him, putting it in her stack. "I better get downstairs, my boyfriend is waiting for me."  
  
Dave seemed to flinch when she said that and she had to hide a smile at his reaction. This was working perfectly. Maybe when he saw that she was taken, he would actually show that he wanted to be with her. She could only hope that was his reaction to her and Chris.  
  
"You have a...boyfriend?" Dave asked.  
  
"Yeah, Chris Jericho."  
  
"Oh, wow, how did I miss that tidbit of news?"  
  
"It's a fairly recent development," she said, grinning from ear to ear.  
  
"Cool, he's a nice guy," he said as they both stood up.  
  
"He is," she agreed, "Really nice."  
  
There seemed to be some chemistry between them and she wanted nothing more than to just close the space between them and make him lean down to kiss her. But technically she had a boyfriend now, and she did think of Chris as a friend and she didn't really want to hurt him so soon. Besides, she had to make sure that Dave really did have feelings, but seeing his reaction to her dating Chris, she knew she was well on her way there.  
  
"Great, really...great."  
  
"Well, I better get downstairs now, he might get worried."  
  
"Do you want me to walk you down there?"  
  
"Well, I don't really need an escort."  
  
"But you have to have someone watch out for any of those errant hit and run people who make your files fly everywhere."  
  
"If you insist."  
  
"Well, I was headed down there anyways, so it would be on my way."  
  
"Ok then, I'll take you up on that offer."  
  
Stephanie smiled at him again, ignoring the fluttering in her stomach as she walked so close to him. She stood close to him in the elevator as well, smelling the distinct smell of his aftershave. She was actually glad when the elevator stopped because she was about to jump him, and she didn't know if he would like that, or if she could go for more after her last night with Chris. Though she could probably make an exception for Dave. "I'll see you later Dave," Stephanie said sweetly, playing up her sweetness.  
  
"You will, we work together."  
  
"Good thing too," she said, giving him a wave.  
  
She walked back into the diner and saw Rhyno leaving the table where Chris was sitting with their food in front of him and her spot. She walked over and wrapped her arms around him from behind, kissing his cheek. Chris turned his head to kiss her properly before she went over to her side.  
  
"You took a while there, I was starting to think you ran away."  
  
"No, some woman bumped into me and knocked my papers on the ground," she said, rolling her eyes, and deliberately neglecting to mention anything about her meeting with Dave.  
  
"God, that's rude," Chris said, shaking his head as he grabbed the syrup and proceeded to douse his pancakes in them.  
  
Stephanie looked over his shoulder to see Dave walked in. He looked at her table and she smiled up at him. He smiled back at her and nodded his head in her direction. She bit her lip a little as she gazed at the object of her affection, her smile widening. Chris looked up and saw her smiling and reached across the table to grab her hand. Stephanie smiled at him too.  
  
Chris didn't know how he had gotten so damn lucky. 


	4. Chapter 4

Chris was pretty literally walking on cloud nine the next night of Raw. Stephanie was on his arm and he didn't think that anything on Earth could be better than the position he was in. He was still in disbelief that she would want him. He had always thought that she was out of his league, but it appeared that she wasn't, and that was an even better situation than anything prior.  
  
Stephanie leaned her chin on his shoulder as they were walking to her office/his dressing room. Chris couldn't stand being away from her for even a moment and because of that, he wanted to share everything with her. Stephanie was not abject to this idea either. She was loath to admit that being with Chris was somewhat...fun.  
  
That didn't let her affection for Dave waver though, she was still madly in love with him. He was still that ultimate goal that she was striving for, but she was starting to feel a little bit guilty about using Chris like this. He was such a nice guy and treated her so well in the week they had been together. He could be considered the perfect boyfriend and he was hers...if only for a while.  
  
"I missed you this weekend," Chris told her as she stared at his profile.  
  
"Then why didn't you come to Connecticut with me?" she teased good- naturedly.  
  
"Because that would've been too much fun and I might have died," he teased back.  
  
"Oh, I wouldn't let you die," she said, "Maybe I would bring you to the brink of death, but I wouldn't let you die."  
  
"Well thanks, I'm sure me, and my body appreciate that sentiment."  
  
"I'm sure it does," she answered, patting his stomach gently.  
  
"This weekend maybe you can make it down to Tampa."  
  
"And what would I do in Tampa?"  
  
"You could go to the beach and get a nice tan, or you can stay in my bed all weekend, you'd look good there too."  
  
"Silly boy," she joked, "You'll get that part of me tonight at the hotel."  
  
"Is that a promise?"  
  
"Of course it is, I wouldn't want you sleep alone, and I don't want to sleep alone either. Especially when it's you that I could be sleeping with."  
  
Chris just shook his head and kissed her forehead. She smiled calmly; she didn't exactly know why Chris made her feel so safe, but he did. If she wasn't madly in love with Dave, she would jump into a serious relationship with Chris. He was most definitely the kind of guy that a girl would want to be a serious relationship with.  
  
"So do you have a lot of work to do tonight?"  
  
"I'm a writer and I practically run the show Chris, what do you think?"  
  
"Ok, so you have a lot of work to do tonight," he laughed, "I wish that you could come out to my match with me. Why don't you write that into the show?"  
  
"And what would the logic be behind that Mr. Jericho?"  
  
"That....you....um...need, or I need someone to be with me," he finished lamely. She started giggling at his attempt to give an actually valid reason for wanting her by his side. He looked down in mock shame.  
  
"Yeah, that'll be a good reason, you'll just go out there and stutter out a reason and suddenly there I am."  
  
"I like to think that I would be way cooler if I were out there."  
  
Stephanie laughed again as they reached the room they were in for the evening. Chris opened the door for Stephanie and she ducked under his arm to enter the room. Chris went in after her and she went to her desk, while Chris went to dump his stuff off on the other side. She sat at her desk and picked up the script for the evening.  
  
"Hey, is that the script?" Chris asked as he went to sit on the desk next to her.  
  
"Yeah, it is," she said, "It's the revised ones with the matches booked and everything."  
  
"Great. Who am I facing tonight?"  
  
Stephanie gulped as she read what she had just read about a dozen more times. Chris was teaming up with Edge, and they were facing...Randy and Dave. Chris was going to be facing Dave, HER Dave, or at least the person she wanted to be hers. Was this going to start a feud?  
  
"Steph?"  
  
"Huh?" she asked, looking up at him.  
  
"Who am I facing?" he asked again after Stephanie had been silent for a few moments.  
  
"Oh, um, you're teaming with Edge against Randy and Dave..."  
  
"Cool, I should go find them so I can discuss what we want to do with the match tonight."  
  
"Yeah, you should," she said, "I just have to call my dad and ask him something."  
  
"Do you want me to leave or anything."  
  
She put her hand on his knee, "You don't have to, I just want to know why you're in that tag match."  
  
"Um, I guess because Edge is in a feud with Randy and he needed a partner."  
  
"Maybe, but I'd rather check if it's all the same to you."  
  
"I don't care, it's nice to know you can pull the strings around here and let me know what's going on even before I know what's going on."  
  
She picked up the phone and dialed her father's cell phone number. She hoped to God that Chris wasn't going to be feuding with Dave. That would create such an awkward situation for her. Yes, she was still thinking about herself in all of this, but if she was to be with Chris and have him going against Dave, that would be...wait, it wouldn't be so bad. She would hang around with Chris, who would in turn hang around with Dave, discussing matches and what not. Actually this might not be a bad thing, if she played it right.  
  
"Vince McMahon."  
  
"Daddy, it's me."  
  
"Is something wrong Stephanie?"  
  
"No Daddy, I just needed to clarify something for the show's long term plans. I see that Chris Jericho is going to be teaming with Edge against Randy and Dave and I'm wondering if this means that you're going to start a feud with them?"  
  
"I'm glad you called, yes, we decided to go ahead with a feud since neither one is doing anything big. If you had read on in the script you'd see that we're doing an injury angle with Chris and Dave is going to be the instigator."  
  
"Oh, thanks Daddy," she answered, "Chris is here and we were just wondering."  
  
"That's fine, if you need anything else, you know that you can ask."  
  
"Of course, bye Daddy."  
  
"Bye."  
  
Stephanie looked up at Chris after she was through with her phone call, "Daddy confirmed it, you're going to be in a program with Dave." She picked up the script and read on a little bit where it explained how they wanted the match to play out. Stephanie lifted the script to be eye-level with Chris and he read it.  
  
"Great, I get to play fake injury."  
  
"Because you never have a real injury," she said leaning both her arms across her legs, "You're like Superman or something, you're never hurt and we, as a company, are all the more grateful for that because we'd miss you if you weren't around."  
  
"Or you would have to scramble to find out what you would do without me."  
  
"That too," she smiled up at him, "But I like having you around at least."  
  
"Well, that's all that counts I guess."  
  
"But if you play fake, then we have an instant feud between you two and it works out even better for me," she said, "Because then you won't be on as much, doing stuff and you can keep me company, because I'm usually so lonely back here with nothing to do."  
  
"I would hate that."  
  
There was a knock at the door and Stephanie lifted her arms from Chris's legs so he could get off the desk and go answer it. He pulled the door open and Edge, Randy and Dave were standing there.  
  
"Hey, what's up?" Chris asked.  
  
"We wanted to discuss the tag match tonight," Edge said, "So can we come in?"  
  
"Sure," Chris said, taking a step back.  
  
Stephanie's breath caught as she saw Dave walk into the room. He was wearing his ring gear already with an Evolution shirt on as well. He was looking heavenly and she had to resist from wanting to touch those muscular thighs. He truly was like a god and she was simply his minion. The guys went over to the bank of couches on the far end of the room and seated themselves in a circle, all leaning in to hear each other. Dave looked up for a moment and smiled at her as she found herself sitting there just staring at them all.  
  
"Hey Stephanie," Dave said as he broke her out of her trance.  
  
"Oh hey," Stephanie said, putting on her nonchalant air. She got up to go over to where they were and she sat herself down in Chris's lap. He wasn't prepared for it and let out a little groan as he wrapped his arms around her waist.  
  
"You want to listen in?" Chris asked.

She smiled at him and then let her smile carry over to Dave, "I figure if I know what you guys are going to be doing, it'll help me figure out what I want to write for your feuds."  
  
"That's a good idea," Dave said to her.  
  
"That's nice of you to say Dave," Stephanie said back, still trying to remain neutral to him, lest Chris figure anything out.  
  
They went about talking about the match and Stephanie had to keep her eyes from wandering in Dave's direction. Chris's hand rubbing her back gently did some to help her, since it kept her mind focused on what he was doing rather than what Dave was doing. She loved to look at Dave when he was serious; he just had the cutest look on his face when he was being serious, so concentrated was he, she could look at him like that for days.  
  
"Ok, sounds great guys," Chris said, "I think that we're pretty prepared to go out there and give the fans a good show."  
  
"Yeah," Randy nodded, "The show should be starting soon so I need to go get in my gear."  
  
Edge agreed and the two of them left. Dave and Chris wanted to iron out the details a little bit more for what they wanted to do for his injury. They figured out it should be Dave's clothesline that did it. Dave did have a mean ass clothesline, and it looked so stiff. If they played up the fact that Chris's head had bounced off the ring-mat during the clothesline it gave them an easy explanation for the injury.  
  
"I wouldn't want to really injure you," Dave laughed, "Stephanie might write me into a storyline where I have to wear dresses and act like a girl."  
  
Stephanie giggled at his joke, "We already have one Rico."  
  
Dave and Chris both laughed at that one, "But still, I'll be careful about it, just be prepared for it, that way it'll look good for the cameras, but it'll also keep you safe."  
  
"And that's the most important thing," Stephanie cooed at Chris, giving him a light kiss as she looked at Dave out of the corner of her eye. He looked a trifle uncomfortable seeing them in such an embrace. She couldn't really tell if he was jealous or not, but he didn't look pleased at all. That was a good sign.  
  
"I'll leave you two alone," Dave said, standing up, "I'll see you during our match Chris, bye Stephanie."  
  
"Bye Dave," Stephanie called out.  
  
"You like him," Chris said after Dave had walked out.  
  
Stephanie spun her head around quickly, looking into Chris's eyes, searching them for explanation. He couldn't have possibly figured out her secret so soon; how could he have figured it out? Was she so transparent that just anyone could see how she felt about Dave. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but she couldn't form the words.  
  
"Huh? Like?"  
  
"Yeah, he's a nice guy, I like him too."  
  
"Oh," Stephanie said, her heart beating again, "I thought you meant that I liked him in the romantic sense of the word."  
  
"No, I meant in the friendly sense," Chris answered, "I'd hate to think what would happen if you liked him in the romantic sense."  
  
She laughed nervously. "Yeah, that would be silly, since I'm with you right?"  
  
"Uh huh, and that makes me very, very happy," he told her, leaning up to kiss her again. She let him kiss her intensely, just glad that he hadn't figured out her dirty, little secret. Glad that it was still safe and tucked away quietly in her brain and in her heart.  
  
"You look like you're thinking," he told her.  
  
"I am thinking."  
  
"Can I know what you're thinking about?"  
  
"Maybe, maybe not," she teased.  
  
"Why just a maybe, are they naughty?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Sure," he said suspiciously.  
  
"No, they're not naughty, but they might be considered devious."  
  
"Oh, those are good thoughts to have."  
  
"Are they now?"  
  
"The best as long as they aren't meant for me."  
  
"Maybe they are, maybe they're not."  
  
"Now you're just being a tease....tell me," he pleaded and kissed her to try and entice the answer out of her.  
  
"I was just thinking, maybe I should write us together."  
  
"Really?" he asked, both excited and skeptical.  
  
"I think it would be good...very good."


	5. Chapter 5

"So I talked to Daddy, and he said that I could definitely write the both of us together."

Chris smiled widely. Not only was he dating Stephanie McMahon, but he would get to have her out there with him. If his life got any better, he didn't know what he would do, but he figured running around in circles whooping with joy would play a big part of it. He glanced over at Stephanie, who was looking at him keenly, probably trying to read his reaction, but he had effectively zoned out.

"Chris, that IS ok with you isn't it? I mean, it was your idea," Stephanie said, her eyebrows scrunched together as she tried to read his face.

He smiled at her, "Of course I'm up for it. People are always saying that I'm too much of a loner, what better way to shake off that stigma than have you with me out there?"

Stephanie grinned and wrapped her arms around his waist, looking up at him, "Who's been saying that you're a loner?"

"Just people, you know, the fans. They think that I'm always just me, not part of a team. Like Edge and Christian, you know, or Evolution."

"Well now you have me," she grinned flirtily.

"And aren't I the lucky one because of that?" Chris asked her, kissing her softly.

"You are lucky."

At least for now, Stephanie thought. She was still feeling a little bit bad for using Chris like she was, but...what could she do now? He liked being with her, and a part of her liked being with him. She couldn't break his heart...but she knew that eventually she was going to break his heart. Maybe she shouldn't have done this whole plan, maybe she should break it off with Chris before he got too hurt...

Her thoughts were interrupted by Chris brushing his rough finger against her jaw. She pulled herself out of her trance and looked into his azure blue eyes. They could be so clear that you'd think you were looking straight into his soul. The way his eyelashes seemed to dance against his skin. He leaned in and kissed her, completely stealing away her thoughts. It had been a long time since she had had anyone, by the time she had broken it off with Hunter, they were barely speaking. Chris had awoken a desire in her that had long been unsatiated. She didn't really want to give that up.

Her emotions were wrestling against each other. She didn't want to break Chris's heart, but she didn't want to give up her dream of Dave. Dave...that name sent shivers through her spine. The simplest gestures from Dave could send a thousand butterflies through her stomach. She wanted that feeling. With Chris, she felt more safe then anything else. She tried to stop thinking about it as she pressed her lips more firmly against Chris's lips.

"So what's the plan for the night?" Chris asked breathlessly as he broke the kiss.

"I'm going to go out with you during your match with Dave and I'm going to interfere on your behalf so you'll win."

"A win and I have you out there with me? Sounds like a great night."

She rested the palm of her hand against his cheek, the stubble on his face tickling her hand before a sly smile crept up to her lips, brightening up her eyes in the prettiest way. "But first we have a Highlight Reel to do."

"AND a Highlight Reel with you as my special guest?"

"Surprise guest, nobody is going to know it's me until the very," she paused to kiss him, "moment," she kissed him again, "I," another kiss, "come out."

"Nice," he said, "So where's the script so we can rehearse?"

"I thought we'd just go out there and improvise. You know that Daddy doesn't mind that as long as the person knows what they're doing, and if there's anyone who can work a mic, it's you."

"Well, I am the best there is," he said cockily.

"And we can extend that to many varying areas," Stephanie said with a smirk.

"Hey guys," a new voice said. Dave came up to the twosome and smiled, "I just read the script and it says that I have a match against Chris and I wanted to discuss the match. It said that I was supposed to knock Stephanie off the apron."

Chris turned his head towards Stephanie, looking at her quizzically. Granted they hadn't talked about it in depth yet, he was surprised to find out that Stephanie was going to put herself on the line in the match. Stephanie would've answered, or given him a reassuring look if she hadn't been staring intently at Dave. He had just run his hand through his hair and she loved the way it was so perfect and every hair was in place, just by running his hand through it. It was perfect, just like every other part of him. She gave a deep sigh before Chris tugged on her sleeve.

"Stephanie, I don't want you getting hurt," Chris told her.

Stephanie tore her gaze away from Dave albeit reluctantly. "Chris, I'll be fine. You worry too much, I've interfered in matches plenty of times, and nothing remotely harmful has ever happened to me."

Chris didn't look like he was particularly convinced, but he knew that Stephanie knew what she was doing and he had to trust her. It wasn't like she hadn't been out there for matches before. "Ok, so Dave, what did you want to do for the match?"

Stephanie looked over some paperwork as Chris and Dave talked to each other. She stole glances at Dave every so often. He was still dressed in his street clothes, though his street clothes were nicer than most of the other men in the company. He was wearing dark gray dress pants, a nice straight crease down the center and a black dress shirt, buttoned except for the top two buttons which gave a tantalizing view of his tanned, golden skin. She had to stop herself from drooling all over herself. He was just that good-looking a man.

She had to force herself to concentrate on the paperwork attached to the clipboard in front of her. Just focus on the numbers, she kept saying to herself. She didn't want to focus on the man who could pass for a Greek god in front of her. So well-built and muscular, and her tongue was about to hit the floor some time soon. God, could she stop thinking of that man for like two minutes? No was the answer, but she really did try valiantly. She leaned against the wall and let her gaze wander to Chris. He was good-looking too, at least she had taste in men. His hair was pulled back neatly into a ponytail, a few wisps had escaped but he had tucked them behind his ears. He had a strong profile and such nice teeth, she observed. He was muscular too, but it was more subdued that Dave. Dave was like 0% body fat, while Chris had those cute little love handles. They were both great in different ways. Ok, she admitted to herself, watching the both of them just standing there, it was making her kind of hot, but could you blame her? Any woman in their right mind would drool at the sight of Dave Batista and Chris Jericho talking to each other. She was just succumbing to instinct.

Chris shook hands with Dave and then turned to Stephanie. She was looking a teeny bit dazed and he waved his hand in front of her face. She smiled lazily at him, the smile easy and unstrained. He smiled back and brushed one of her long bangs out of her face. She had decided to grow them out a little and they were prone to fall into her face a lot. She reached up and intercepted his hand with hers and brought them down until they were at her side.

"Did you iron everything out for the match?" Stephanie asked.

"Yeah, we did, sounds like a pretty good strategy. For a fairly new guy, Dave has some good ring direction," Chris nodded.

Stephanie pursed her lips, "I don't like talking in-ring work. It's boring for me. What is the plan for me?"

"You'll go up on the apron and Dave will be running to me to hit his clothesline, but I'll duck at the last moment and he'll knock out the referee who will in turn hit you."

"Sounds good," she nodded, "If not a little bit of too much chain reaction, but I guess you didn't want me to get hit by Dave."

Chris snapped his fingers, "Darn, you caught me...In all seriousness, your well-being is the one I'm more worried about, and I just want you to be safe."

Stephanie had to smile at the sentiment. Chris did care about her, she knew this as plain as she knew the color of his eyes, which she had memorized in their time together, which was just about three weeks. She liked that she had someone caring about her, and she DID care about Chris, no matter what some of the thoughts inside her head suggested. Chris deserved to have somebody care about him. She hoped he found that person in the long-run, once she left him for Dave.

"Worry about yourself out there," Stephanie said, "Only think of me as an afterthought."

"Can't do it," he said, "As much as I'm the King of the World, you are my girl and it's my job to make sure that everything goes according to plan with you and only you. Me, I can take care of that in the ring."

"You're too much Chris Jericho, much too much."

"So what did your dad think about us being in a storyline together?" Chris asked as they walked to her office, which still doubled as his locker room. He knew that Vince knew about him and Stephanie, and he didn't really seem to mind all that much. Or if he did, he managed to keep it completely restrained, which Chris found fortunate as he didn't want anyone interfering with the relationship he had with Stephanie.

"I think he thought it was a good idea. He wasn't outright against it or anything, if that's what you're thinking. I think he likes the idea that I'll be on television again. He likes it when a McMahon presence is on the show."

"I think that you are the right McMahon for the job," Chris smiled.

"You're just saying that because you would rather have me escorting you out there rather than Shane," Stephanie laughed.

"Well, I admit, Shane would be less of a distraction, but if I wanted to go with the most beautiful person, it would have to be you."

Stephanie tugged on his hand for him to stop and he did, looking over at her for an answer as to why she made them stop in the middle of the hallway. She stood on her toes and kissed him lightly, with a little teasing from her tongue. She pulled away and licked her lips playfully before slipping into her office, leaving Chris speechless, but following her in moments later.

Later that evening, Chris was in the ring for the Highlight Reel. He just had to wait for the cue and he would be on-screen and broadcasting his gorgeous mug to the world. He was clad in his familiar vinyl pants and the newest shirt that they wanted him to shill. He paced back and forth in front of the Jeritron 5000 before he got his cue. As soon as he knew he was on, he grinned that award-winning smile of his.

"Welcome to the Highlight Reel!" he said loudly, grandly gesturing at his set. "Now all throughout the show tonight, they've been advertising this special mystery guest for the Highlight Reel tonight, and I know that's it's probably gotten you intrigued. It had me intrigued too until I found out who it was."

The crowd seemed completely clueless as to who it could be. Maybe if they knew it was Stephanie they would scream out that familiar, "slut" chant that always seemed to break out when Stephanie was in the ring. Even when she was the General Manager over on SmackDown there had always been sporadic chants of "slut" directed in Stephanie's direction.

"Now this person belongs on this show, and they're needed on this show, and we all need this person. Not as much as all you Jerichoholics need me but," he had to stop because of the thunderous cheering that erupted when he mentioned Jerichoholics. He waited for it to quiet down a moment before continuing. "Now you may be wondering, who could be needed as much as Y2J himself? It's a difficult question to ask, I know this, but this person...is a little bit too much like me. Not that it's a bad thing, because I am the King of the World, the King of Bling Bling, and Raw IS Jericho...but now it's time for it to be Raw is Jericho and my special guest, Stephanie McMahon!"

Stephanie's music hit and then there she was, on the top of the ramp dressed in a pale lavender asymmetrical skirt and a simple white button up blouse with rolled up sleeves, and which showed off her cleavage just a little bit. She looked beautiful to Chris's eyes, from her curled hair to her white, strappy stilettos. She walked down to the ring amidst a mixture of boos and cheers, but mostly cheers. Some people stuck their hands out into the aisle and she shook some of the people's hands before climbing the ring steps slowly before climbing into the ring with Chris's assistance.

She took a microphone and let the feeling of being on stage sink in again. She brought the microphone up to her lips and looked over at Chris to pose a question. It may have looked like it was simply intended for him, but it was directed to everyone in the audience when she said, "Did you miss me?"

The crowd cheered and booed again, but still more cheers than boos. It probably had a lot to do with the fact that she had been gone for so long, hadn't been on Raw in about two years, and the glowing words that Chris had introduced her with, saying the crowd needed her, and they ate it up with a spoon.

"I'll take that as a yes," Stephanie said with a smirk, "Did you miss me Jericho?"

"It's hard to miss such a thorn in your side," Chris said snidely.

"Oh, I think you did miss me," Stephanie said sweetly. "I bet you missed calling me a filthy, dirty, disgusting, brutal, bottom-feeding trash bag ho."

Chris laughed heartily, "As a matter of fact, I did miss calling you that."

"It hurt that you used the line on Trish Stratus," Stephanie said, feigning a pout. "I thought that was your special line for me."

"She doesn't hold a candle to you. You're the only woman I know who can stand on a street corner and be the most beautiful two dollar hooker I've ever seen."

Stephanie giggled sarcastically, "Is that so? Well Jericho, it's been so nice watching you fall lower and lower on the scale of Raw, who are you going to be facing next week, some random face we bring in off the street, is that how far your career has lowered in the past two years?"

"Oh, you were always one to bring about the best in me," Chris said, "Now what exactly are you doing here Stephanie?"

"I came her to make you a proposition," Stephanie said.

"Stephanie, this is really quite sudden, I didn't realize that as soon as you got back you'd what to be ON your back."

Stephanie rolled her eyes comically. "I want to be partners again Chris. But this time will be better. We won't just be out to get that rotten ex-husband of mine."

"Oh really?" he asked.

She walked a few steps closer to him and stared him down for a moment. The heat and sexual tension between them was at an all-time high and as Stephanie licked her lips in Chris's direction, they both knew what they were going to be doing after the show. She leaned in a little closer, glancing off to the side to see the fans watching and she smiled.

"We can rule all of Raw," she said into her microphone. "How does that sound Chris, you in?"

"You bet your ass I'm in," Chris said, shaking her hand.

"Isn't this the sweetest thing you've ever seen," a sarcastic voice said from the top of the ramp. Stephanie and Chris looked to see Dave standing there. They had decided to let Dave interfere in the Highlight Reel, segueing into the match between Chris and Dave. Dave didn't get a lot of speaking parts on the show, but Stephanie sought to change that because he really did have a nice voice.

"Oh look Stephanie, he can talk," Chris said as Stephanie laughed and stood next to him.

"Cut the chit-chat Jericho, you and me in that ring right now. Obviously you didn't get the message when I practically knocked your head off the other week, so I have to show you again not to mess around with Evolution."

"Fine, get your ass down here and I'll show you how much you 'knocked my head' off," Chris said, pulling off his shirt and handing it to Stephanie. He gestured for her to leave the ring as the guys took the set away.

Stephanie watched as they started their match. She had to pay attention so that she didn't miss her cue. After a failed Lionsault attempt she was supposed to go to work. She gently laid Chris's shirt on the ground next to where she was standing and started slapping her hand against the mat, cheering for Chris. She also watched Dave intently. For such a big guy he moved so well in the ring. It really was a talent. So distracted was she, that she almost missed her cue, but managed to climb up on the apron and distract the referee. He came over and she pretended to argue with him as she saw Chris give Dave a low-blow behind the referee. Then Dave grabbed Chris and flung him against the ropes on the far side of the ring, which Chris managed to hold onto the ropes and go closer to where she was standing. Dave started to run and was going to take down Chris with the clothesline when Chris ducked and Dave hit the referee who in turn hit Stephanie.

She went to fall and by some luck of nature she landed right on her foot, which then twisted her ankle from the high stiletto she was wearing. She cringed and fell to the ground, grabbing her ankle. She knew she had twisted it, and she tried to stand up, but it was no use. Chris came over to the ropes and looked down at her.

"Stephanie, are you hurt?" he called to her.

"Yeah, but go on with the match, I'll be fine," she said, giving him a weak smile. The pain was flaring up. Chris was reluctant to go back to the match, but had to since they were on live. She caught Dave staring at her with concern, knowing that he was at least partially responsible for her getting hurt. He looked at her with genuine remorse and she felt the pain disappear if even for a moment.

Maybe she could use that guilt to her advantage.


	6. Chapter 6

Stephanie limped backstage, supporting most of her weight onto Chris. Her ankle was rapidly swelling, and it only got worse when she took her shoe off. It was turning a sickly purple color, so it was probably bruised as well. Chris had his arm around her waist as she had her arm around his shoulder.

"We'll get my things and then I'm taking you to the hospital."

"Can't we just go to the trainer?" she asked.

"I'm not taking the chance. It could be broken," Chris said firmly, and she knew that she was in for a fight. She knew Chris well enough to know that when he thought something was right, he thought it was the only option out there.

"But why can't we let the trainer assess it and then if he says that I should go see a doctor, then you can take me?"

"Why are you being so difficult?"

"I should ask you the same question," she answered. "Look, if I have to get x-rays we'll go. But the reason that we have a trainer here is because he is the one people go to if they are hurt."

"But--" Chris had no logical comeback for that and cursed under his breath. So he tried a different approach to get her to forgo the trainer and go straight to the emergency room. "I just worry about you."

"And that's sweet, but don't shove your head up your ass and not see that I'm right."

"You're not always right," he countered.

"Sure I am," she said with a smile, though she had to strain to do it since her ankle really was in pain. That would teach her to wear such high heels out to the ring and then attempt to not fall like a klutz.

"I'm right sometimes."

"Not around me, you just have to get used to the fact that I'm going to be right, and even if I'm wrong, there's no chance in hell that I'm going to admit it."

One of the main reasons that Stephanie wanted to go to the trainer instead of the doctor's was Dave was here. And if Dave was here, then Dave could come check on her, and she could play the poor, pathetic, injured girl routine, and Dave would eat it up with a spoon because essentially he was the one who put her in this position, not that she was going to be angry with him or anything, it was partly her fault for wearing such inappropriate shoes.

"Well then you don't have to admit it, you just have to listen to me and go to the hospital, and you can keep your mouth shut the entire time."

She frowned at him, "You would just love that wouldn't you. I wouldn't say I was right, but essentially I would be wrong because I would just let you do whatever you wanted."

By this time, Chris found out that Stephanie had somehow directed them straight to the trainer's room. He looked at her in shock, wondering how she had done that without him even noticing. He was convinced they had been heading to his dressing room. Stephanie gave him a superior-looking smirk and patted his shoulder.

"You'll learn," she told him. "Now let's go see the trainer."

Stephanie wasn't expecting Chris to sweep her up in his arms, but he did just that as he kicked open the slightly ajar door with his foot, sending it reeling into the wall. Stephanie rolled her eyes as he led her in. The trainer looked up from the magazine he had been reading and saw Stephanie's ankle. Chris set her down on the examination table and then stood as close as he could get to her. She elbowed him in the stomach to give her some breathing room.

"Well, what are you going to do about it?" Chris snapped as the trainer came over to examine her ankle.

"Why don't you try giving the guy a few minutes to actually look at it, I'm not sure he has good enough eyes to assess me without actually touching my ankle," Stephanie said.

"I just want him to make sure that you're going to be fine."

"I'm not in a body cast Chris, I think that I'm going to be fine with this one," Stephanie answered. "Would you just stop worrying, it's my ankle!"

"But you have nice ankles, and I don't want them to be screwed up."

"Oh give me a break," she said, exasperated. She went back to look at what the trainer was doing, gently lifting her ankle. He poked and prodded certain areas, and when he got the most swollen part, she let out a painful yelp, her face grimacing.

"Be careful with her!" Chris snapped again and Stephanie shoved him again. "Would you stop shoving me!"

"Would you stop acting like an ass?" she countered. "Do you have a diagnosis, or do I have to go to the hospital?"

"Well, it doesn't look broken," the trainer said, to which Stephanie gave a smug smile to Chris over. "But it is a sprain, I can wrap it up for you tonight and you just want to keep it elevated for the evening. I have some supplies in my truck, I'll be right back with them."

"Thank you," Stephanie said sweetly and then when the trainer had left, she laid back and smiled up at Chris. "Told you so."

"Fine, fine, you told me so," Chris said good-naturedly, finding it nearly impossible to be angry with her. She was just too beautiful and too head-strong for him to be mad. Instead of a witty come-back, Stephanie leaned up to kiss him, surprising him slightly, since he thought a tiny part of her was mad at him.

Stephanie didn't know why she felt the sudden urge to kiss him except for the fact that he had admitted that she was right and he was wrong. She wasn't falling for Chris; that was a silly idea. She just liked his kisses far too much. He used lots of chapstick, so they were always soft and very kissable. She laid back on the table in a slight daze, especially now that Chris's knuckles were running down her jaw.

There was a soft knock on the door and Stephanie sat up, wondering who it was. "Come in."

Dave peeked his head in through the door and gave the two of them a sheepish look before opening the door. Stephanie smiled shyly and glanced over at Chris to see him clenching his jaw. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that he was going to put the blame on Dave for what happened.

"I suggest you find your way out of here," Chris said, his voice taut.

"I just wanted to apologize," Dave answered. Stephanie had never seen him look so sad before, and it was over her. It was like he had taken off the cloak of being a big, strong, strapping man, and he was exposing his sensitive side to her. She almost wanted to swoon right there.

"You've done enough!" Chris said angrily. "Look at her! She's sitting here injured because of you!"

"Chris!" Stephanie hissed, putting her hand on his arm. "Go to your locker room and get your things so we can go when my ankle is wrapped up."

"But I want to stay--"

"You're not helping anyone here, and get your anger in check," she told him. "We'll talk when you get back."

Stephanie knew that she sounded like a mother chastising her child, but Chris was acting stupidly at the moment. He knew that accidents happened in this business, and he should know that this was just an accident. She failed to realize that this was all because Chris cared about her a great deal and hated seeing her injured. She was simply to blinded by Dave to see Chris was head over heels for her. That could come back to haunt her one day.

"Ok," Chris mumbled, kissing her cheek, to which she was oblivious to. He brushed past Dave and left, leaving Stephanie smiling shyly again at Dave.

"He had every right to be mad at me," Dave told her. "This was all my fault."

"No, it wasn't, these things happen, and I'm going to be fine," Stephanie said reassuringly. "It's not like you did this on purpose or anything right?"

He laughed a little. "Yeah, it was my intention to knock you out."

"Well in that case, I may have to be angry at you," she said, her tone definitely flirty as she tossed her hair back. "It's just a sprain, Chris'll get over it."

"He seemed pretty pissed, he must care about you a lot."

Stephanie hadn't really ever thought about it to be honest. She knew that Chris liked her and that was fine with her, but she never really saw him as anything more. Not when Dave was around, and looking so fine, as he was right this second. Chris was kind of just there, he was always kind of just there.

"I guess."

"You two make a good couple," Dave said, and Stephanie picked up something strange in his voice.

"Well thanks, people tell us that quite a bit, I haven't really thought about it too much. We're kind of just there."

"Do you think it's going to get serious?" Dave asked, looking at her intently. Stephanie stared at him a moment, mesmerized by the man in front of her. She let out a little sigh as she tilted her head. "Stephanie, are you ok? Did you get a concussion?"

Stephanie shook herself out of her reverie and cursed herself for showing so much emotion in front of Dave. If she kept doing that, he was going to suspect something, and she didn't want to give it all away before she had the chance to get him. And if Dave did find out, then Chris could find out, and she wanted to make the revelation as painless as possible. When the time came, she wanted to let Chris go gently. She'd probably spout something off like she wasn't ready for a commitment, or that they were going too fast for her, or it just wasn't working out. He would understand eventually.

"No, I don't have a concussion, I just fell on my ankle."

"I really am sorry, I should've been watching where I was running."

"It was part of the match Dave," Stephanie told him. "Seriously, don't even worry about it. And Chris will get over it. He's just protective."

"He's a lucky guy," Dave told her.

Stephanie had never expected to hear those words from Dave. Not that Dave wasn't capable of saying it, not that she knew if he was, but they were towards her. Dave, the object of her affection was actually saying something that could be interpreted as being interested in her. If he did like her, or was attracted to her, or just lusted after her in a purely sexual way (she would take any of the three, though the last one intrigued her the most), she didn't know if going after Chris was such a hot idea.

"You think so?" she said, her breath catching in her throat. Was someone cutting off the oxygen to her room because she was starting to see little stars around Dave? Maybe this was what love felt like, she felt like she was floating.

"Yeah, you're really cool Stephanie," Dave gave up to her.

"You really think that?"

"Who doesn't?"

"My ex."

"Well, he's an idiot then...just don't tell him I said that."

She laughed. "He wouldn't do anything to you. Have you seen you? You're a big, strapping man and you're bigger than Hunter. You could take him easy."

"Well, coming from you, I guess I can go along with that theory."

"You already know the most important thing about me Dave, I'm always right," she told him, laying her hand on his arm. "And that'll get you far in this business."

He winked at her. "I'll keep that in mind for future reference. I better go though, Chris'll be back soon, and the way he was looking at me, I wouldn't be surprised if he tried to kick my ass."

"I wouldn't let him, and he listens to me. He knows it was an accident, he just doesn't like seeing me hurt."

Stephanie was suddenly shot with a pang of...something she couldn't identify. She didn't know why it hit her at that moment, but it was like her stomach dropped out from under her. Maybe it was the fact that Chris cared so deeply for her...but maybe it was more that she knew him so well now. She knew that he was probably mad more at the situation than at Dave, and it was weird to know someone so well. She had never known Hunter that well, because he wouldn't allow it, and Chris, she knew him, and maybe that moment was the moment when she knew that she was going to hurt him deeply.

"Well, I'm sorry again, and I hope that you get better," Dave said, totally unaware that she was having an internal struggle with herself.

"Thanks," she responded, though obviously distracted.

She didn't notice Dave walk out, and she didn't notice Chris walk in, but both things happened within the course of several minutes. Chris noticed that she looked troubled, or at least preoccupied with something else. He walked up to stand in front of her and with a couple of fingers, gently brushed the hair out of her face. She looked at him, and she could see it in his eyes, she could see the hurt already playing behind those blue pools. She could see it just laying there in wait, until she brought it into his eyes and extinguished the sparkle that lay in them now.

"You ready to go," he inquired quietly.

She reached up and grabbed his hand that was still tangled in her brown hair and squeezed it. Had she gotten herself in too deep? So deep that she was going to drown? She wasn't a bad person, she wasn't someone who used people at will, but...she was going to hurt Chris, and she knew it, and she had plowed ahead with her plan, not even thinking about him, and how he might feel.

"Look, I'm sorry for getting mad, I just wanted someone to blame," he continued as she remained silent. "I hate thinking that you're hurt and everything, and I'm sorry about it, it won't happen again...and can you say something before I start going into worry mode and do something like blame the trainer, or the sound guy or the prop guy or something."

"I'm..." she paused. She didn't want to say she was fine, because she wasn't fine. But what was she? Guilty? Maniacal? Devious? Without a soul? Perhaps it was all of these, maybe she was a mush of everything and she didn't know how to solve that conundrum. This feeling, she didn't like it, and yet she couldn't readily escape it like most things in her life. She had gotten herself in too deep and now she was paying for it.

And Chris would be paying for it too. He would be broken-hearted, and for what? To help her get another man; to get another man to fall for her and want to be with her. But all Chris wanted, Chris's only fault in all of this was because he liked her...a lot. He liked her and she had taken advantage of that feeling, of him, and he was the one going to pay. He was going to be the one who suffered from her mistake.

"You're what?" he urged her to say, his eyes boring into hers.

She was in too deep. "I'm ok...you ok?"

"I'm fine, why shouldn't I be? I'm not the one who had to go and sprain their ankle by wearing ridiculously tall shoes."

"You like my shoes," she teased, falling into a comfortable place with Chris. As long as they teased, she could deal with it, because his eyes danced when he was teasing her, and it reminded her less that she was going to break him.

"I liked them before you went off and got hurt. Things are always fun before you get hurt."

The trainer came back then, and Stephanie had forgotten he was even supposed to come back and wrap up her ankle. He did so quickly, obviously having an expertise in the area. She and Chris both thanked him before Chris lifted Stephanie off of the table and set her down on her good ankle, letting her lean on him with most of her weight. Getting to the car was slow going, but Chris cheered when they got there and Stephanie laughed. He was about to help her into the car, when Stephanie stopped him and leaned on the top of the open door, gazing at him for a moment.

"I appreciate you," she told him simply, the words catching in her throat as she said them.

Chris smiled his brilliant smile at her, blinding her almost, but in a nice way, a safe way. "For what?"

"Just for...cause you're Chris Jericho," she said finally. "I see no other reason beyond that to appreciate you."

"Are you looking to score tonight Miss McMahon?"

"I might be, you willing to help me with that?"

"Always at your service Miss."

Stephanie leaned across the space between them and kissed him.

"I really do appreciate you."


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Thanks for the reviews guys, I hope that you are enjoying this story, and sorry for the lack of updates, I'll try to be better. Please review and tell me what you think! :)

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Stephanie was human, and humans made mistakes. She wasn't perfect, as nobody tended to be, and she had major flaws. Her scheming was one of those major flaws. She jumped into something without considering the consequences. And so she found herself with a boyfriend who cared for her, and a crush on a man who she couldn't get. They were not the same man, Chris and Dave were not the same person, and that created the problem. And it was eating her up inside.

Not about Dave, Dave she could deal with when she felt the need to, and now was not the time to worry about him. Chris was who she was worried about. Chris was the one that her heart was screaming for, to end this before she broke his heart, and in turn, her heart as well. She didn't know when she started to care for Chris, but the caring that he showed her was so overwhelming, it seemed the only fair thing was to care for him back.

She also didn't know how it had gotten so serious in so short a time with Chris. They spent every waking moment together, and most of the ones when they were asleep too. He would spend the weekends with her, and he had gone to dinners at her parent's house with her, not even minding when his parents gave him a lecture, and bombarded him with questions. And she had met his parents too, when they were in Canada, in Winnipeg doing a show, he had taken her to meet them.

If she actually did have feelings for Chris, then…well, if she was honest, she did feel something for Chris. It wasn't as strong as what she felt for Dave, but it was something. There was something there between the both of them, but she couldn't figure out what it was. It was just friendship, she told herself, though even her subconscious knew that wasn't true. She was just going to have to live with the consequences of her actions, whether they be good, bad, or some weird middle ground.

Chris was right next to her at the moment, sleeping, facing her. His arm was wrapped around her waist loosely, the weight no extra burden. She wasn't asleep though, and hadn't been to sleep yet. The sky was still dark and it was a few hours before it even began to peek over the horizon. Chris had been asleep for hours, but she was thinking about what was happening, what was going to happen. She didn't notice, but she had been absently stroking Chris's arm as she was thinking.

Chris woke up to the soft brushes against his arm and opened one eye to see that it was Stephanie who was touching him. He was content to let the contact be and drift off to the sleep again, but he quickly glanced up at her and saw that she was deep in thought. He didn't want to disturb her thoughts, but she looked troubled, and if that was what she was feeling, he wanted to know how he could help.

He tapped her on the side, "Whatcha thinking about? Cause if it's about how good I am in bed, well, I can put on a little demonstration."

"Oh yeah, cause that's what keeps me up at night," Stephanie said sarcastically, turning her head to look at him. Her eyes had grown accustomed to the dark, and there was a streetlight somewhere outside, that let the tiniest bit of light into their room. She could make out Chris's face, barely, and she scooted down on the bed to be face to face with him.

"Well, on some nights, it does, the demonstrations that is," he said, and she could hear the goading in his voice. She found that she was smiling at his words, involuntarily, but it was a smile nonetheless.

"Yeah, but not tonight."

"What were you thinking about though? You looked to be thinking pretty hard, and I wouldn't want you to use up all those pretty brain cells."

She shrugged, though it was a pointless gesture if he couldn't see. She didn't want to tell him the entire truth, but a partial truth would keep her conscience clear for the moment. "About us, and how fast this relationship seems to be moving."

"Is it moving fast?" he asked, honestly oblivious to the reasons as to why it might be considered moving too fast. "How long have we been together?"

"Three months" she answered. Yes, she had been putting on this charade for three months, and while it seemed to fly by, many nights, she found herself dreaming about the light in Chris's eyes being extinguished by her.

"And what is considered moving too fast?"

"I just…I mean…we're a part of each other's lives," she told him, looking at him now, but it was too dark to read his face.

"Well, that's usually what dating means, you know, so why don't you go to bed and not think about that, because it really has no meaning if that's your explanation of moving too quickly."

"Not a time to joke Chris."

"Ok, joking aside," he said, patting her stomach, "I don't think we're moving too fast. If you think it's cause we spend a lot of time together, I think that's just normal, since our lives are already tied together--"

"I met your parents."

"So?"

"That's a big thing."

"It's not like I explicitly brought you home to meet them, we were there, it would've been rude of you to be there and not to come. And what better things did you have to do when we were in Winnipeg?"

"Nothing…well, work," she said, trying to come up with a viable excuse.

"You work too much," he answered. "You're the supervisor, so supervise and leave everything up to everyone else. That way you can spend more time with me, and that's really what you want to do right?"

"I like work," she said weakly.

"And I like you," he said, leaning over to kiss her. "If we are going too fast, tell me right now ok, and we just won't take it so quickly."

She contemplated telling him the truth. But it was the middle of the night, and once he kicked her out (as she figured he'd do, judging from all the scenarios she had thought up), she wouldn't have anywhere to go. Well, she could try to go to Dave, but if she had just broken Chris's heart, she doubted that she was going to jump right to Dave without feeling slightly wrong.

"No, we're fine."

"Hey Steph, if we're fine, can I tell you something?"

"Chris, it's late, and I really do need--" He pressed a couple of his fingers to her lips, quieting her down. He leaned over again to kiss her, this time softly, and full of emotion.

"Just one thing," he said teasingly.

"One thing," she agreed.

"I love you," he told her. He hadn't meant it to come out like that. He wanted it to be somewhere nice, over dinner maybe, with him holding her hands and looking at her over the glow of the candlelight. (Stephanie liked romantic gestures, even if he found it cheesy). But this way was more how he wanted it, or envisioned it. Just a quiet proclamation, no frills, just something he wanted to say.

Stephanie's eyes filled with tears, and she was glad that it was still too dark to see them. Those words were binding, and she didn't know what to say. She didn't want to say it back, because she didn't feel that, but he did, and it made it worse. She couldn't stand this anymore, and she knew that she couldn't say it back. She reached across to turn on the light next to her bedside, illuminating the room to the point where Chris could see Stephanie's tears.

"Hey," he said, gesturing towards her face. "Why the tears? Because I said I loved you. Great, I'm the guy who makes girls cry over what I think are nice words."

"They are nice, but they're not what I want to hear," she told him, proceeding forward.

"Oh, what do you want to hear then? I can say that too, if it'll make you feel better. I can say a lot of things in the English language. I did get a degree in journalism, so you know, I have that going for me."

Stephanie got out of the bed, pushing Chris's arm off of her. She needed to create some distance between them. She pulled her t-shirt down, and paced the floor a little bit. She didn't know how to start with this; blurting it out would do no good, so she just had to lead up to it she supposed.

"Steph, you're worrying me here," Chris chuckled, but nervously chuckled. "So if you can stop pacing, sit down on the bed, and we'll just go to sleep. I didn't want to spring how I feel about you, but I didn't expect this reaction."

"I can't be with you anymore," Stephanie said.

"Whoa!" Chris said, physically backing up. "So I'm guessing THIS is too fast. Ok, I take it back then, I don't love you. I think you're scum, and ugly, and come back to bed now, it's two in the morning, and things look better in the morning light."

"Chris, don't be angry with me."

"Steph, you have no need to be mad, I just should've waited a while."

She tilted her head and pitied him, more now than ever before. Her lip quivered and her voice cracked as she spoke, "I'm using you."

Chris would've made a joke, but she looked to be serious, and he didn't know how she could possibly have used him. Up until this moment, things had seemed perfectly normal. They fought, sure, but they were fighters, and neither was willing to let anything go, and that created a bit of tension now and then. But how could she possibly use him, and be in a relationship with him.

"How? It can't be for money, cause you have more than me, or a greencard, because you're American."

She leaned back against the wall, trying to fade into it. "I'm in love with Dave Batista."

Well, that was one way to get Chris to shut up. His head went down, and he looked at the bedspread, the messy blankets where Stephanie had just been lying down. She should've still been lying there. Why did he have to ask her what she was thinking? Why didn't he leave well enough alone? He didn't know what to say, or how to act, so he sat there, looking dumb and forlorn, and alone…just really alone.

"I've been in love with him for months and months, before you and I," she said, hoping that he would get the point of what she was saying. She could see it already, he was crumbling and she was holding the sledgehammer, her on-screenex-husband's weapon of choice.

"So…this…" he choked out, weakly gesturing between the two of them.

She nodded as he looked up at her for a second. "You told me you wanted to go out, and I turned you down. But I didn't know how to get Dave interested in me, and I thought if I could make him jealous, that maybe he'd want me, if he saw me with someone else, he'd want me."

"And because I had asked you earlier that day…you thought of me," he said slowly, digesting what he was saying, what she was implicating. He had been a part of her plan. He thought back to that night, and what she was wearing and how she looked, and what she said. What he thought had been the happiest night of his life. "So that night…you deliberately seduced me into a relationship?"

"Yeah," she told him softly. "I'm sorry, I didn't know any other way. I didn't like the idea of asking him, this guy who I loved, out, and I thought if I can get Chris to ask me out, it would be like…I don't even know anymore."

"So I was nothing to you then," Chris said, his eyes sparkling with unshed tears. He might cry, but he wasn't going to. The feeling of hurt and anger were too much to cry.

"At first, yeah, but then…you were so good to me, and so nice, and I couldn't bear to hurt you. I didn't want to hurt you, which is why I went through with this relationship for three months."

"You didn't think that it would hurt now!"

"I knew it would but--"

"You thought it would be fun to jerk around my chain right!" he said, standing up and shouting now. Stephanie pressed herself against the wall, wishing that she could fade into it, or just fall away altogether.

"No…I just didn't want you to get hurt. I knew I was going to break you, but I couldn't bear to do it, once I saw how much you cared about me."

"And stupid idiot that I am, I had to fall in love with you."

"Chris, please understand. I only thought of you these past couple of months, I did!" she pleaded, hoping he would understand.

"And putting us together on-screen? That was for me too?"

She looked down, "No. I wanted to be closer to Dave."

"I get it. So you're in love with him, and you used me to get to him. Have you been fooling around with him, huh? Are you guys already together, and seeing just how long you can keep up the charade with me! Were you going to do this in front of everyone, at a Raw in a week, or two weeks, or a month. Is that it?"

"NO! I'm not sleeping with Dave, and I haven't kissed him, or anything. Nothing has happened between us. Nothing happened because of you…I mean, I've never told Dave anything about us…but it was me that did nothing with him."

"And that's supposed to make me feel better! You love him, and you're using me, but you never DID anything with him!"

"Because I care about you! At first, it didn't…I didn't care, but Chris, you're such a good guy, and you loved me so much, and I didn't want to break your heart. I didn't want…this," she said, quieting down on the last word.

"A lot of good that does me."

"Chris, please try to understand…."

"I knew it was too good to be true," he said, his voice distant and wistful. "I thought to myself that morning, that this was too good to be true. That me getting Stephanie McMahon was not supposed to happen, that in the grand scheme of things, someone like me was not supposed to have someone like you. But then…there you were in my bed, and it was like…wow, she's really here. And you kept being there, and it became more real, I began to believe that I could have you. I told my parents that you were something special, that you could possibly be it for me. I thought you could be it for me. I wanted to make you believe in us as much as I did. But now…you wanted Dave the entire time. Not one single second with me was devoted to me…because you always wanted Dave. And that cheapens our entire relationship, it makes it all a lie."

Stephanie had started crying mid-way through his speech. His voice sounded broken, and the light, the light that she had fought so hard to keep in his eyes was so dim, his eyes seemed so dark. She took a few steps forward, lightly touching his arm. He let the contact be for a few seconds, before realizing what she was doing. He pulled away abruptly and went to his suitcase, starting to pack his things.

"Chris, what are you doing?" she asked, though she knew what he was doing.

"I'm leaving."

"Chris, it's late, please, just stay here."

"I don't want to look at you anymore," he told her, his voice stiff. "Leave me alone."

"Chris, no, you stay, you paid for the room, I'll go," she told him, not wanting to put him out any more than she had. She was the one who had done this, she was the one who should leave.

"No," he said, "I'm going to go."

"No, you're not, I am," she said, her voice firm.

She went over to her own suitcase and started putting her things in it. She was moving quicker than Chris, and when he saw this, he tried to speed up. They finished at roughly the same moment and Stephanie ran for the door, intercepting Chris by a step. They both stood at the door, and were looking to see who would reach for the knob first. Stephanie did and Chris pulled her arm off.

"Chris, let me go!" Stephanie said, not talking about him touching her, but physically letting her leave.

"Who are you going to go to Stephanie?" he spat out. "What friends do you have around here that you can go to in the middle of the night! You going to go to Dave's room, see if he'll take you in!"

He was right. She didn't really have anyone to go to. Chris was the one with all the friends, the guy who everyone liked. She had even seen a few divas keep their eye on him. In fact, the other day, Lita had been giving him the once over. With Matt away, her eye had been wandering slightly. She didn't like to think that he was going to go to a girl's hotel room, she did care for him.

"No, I wasn't planning on going there. But you're right, I don't have anyone right now. So I guess you can leave…Chris, I didn't want to hurt you. I tried to protect you," she told him, her voice sincere.

Chris looked at her for a moment, his eyes sad. She couldn't look into them for more than a couple of seconds. "You did for a while. Just go after Dave before any other guy gets hurt."

He opened the door and left then, and she stared at it long after he had closed it. In all the scenarios that she had come up with, she didn't ever picture herself feeling like she was feeling right now. Her heart was pounding, so loud that it seemed sound was filling the room, all with the pounding of her heart. She didn't expect to feel the shudder running through her veins, or feel the numbness emanating from her stomach. She didn't expect to stand there for half an hour, willing Chris to come back, to jump back into bed, and let her caress his arm until she herself felt sleep coming.

She didn't expect any of that.

She finally moved away from the door, and back into the bedroom. When she climbed into the bed and turned out the lights, she found it almost unbearable. His cologne was attached to the pillow next to her, and the scent of him was wafting through the air, being carried by the air conditioner they had turned on before going to bed. She let her head fall against his pillow and wrapped herself in the tiny bit of warmth that was still lingering there.

No, she didn't expect it to be like this…not at all.


	8. Chapter 8

_Dear Chris, _

_I know you don't want to talk to me, and I understand that, but I hope that you'll at least take a moment to read this letter. If you don't read it, I guess it would be pointless even to be writing this part, but I have to at least try. _

_Don't hate me. I know that's a pretty big favor to ask you, and a favor that I don't even deserve right now, but I'm going to ask you anyways. Please, just don't hate me. I never wanted things to turn out this way. I knew at first that I was going to hurt you, but I honestly never thought it would get this deep. I wasn't going to get attached to you at first. I just wanted things to be an illusion. The picture of us together was what I wanted to use in hopes of getting Dave to notice me._

_I guess I should start at the beginning because you deserve an explanation. I fear that this is going to be inadequate and will not help your feelings any, but in order to understand, I need to start from the beginning. _

_I was with Hunter when I started to fall for Dave. Hunter was never a good boyfriend, and when you don't have a good boyfriend, your eye tends to wander to others. Dave was there, and Dave was always so nice and kind to me. He was a true friend when I needed one. Maybe that's all he's ever seen me as, I don't know. But I started to fall in love with him. This is probably when you were thinking that you could never get me, and maybe…maybe if I had seen you first, this letter would not be necessary. But the past is that…the past, and we can't change the events in the past, no matter how much you want to, and I really wish I could change the other night, despite what you may think of me._

_I didn't think I could get Dave after Hunter and I broke up. He seemed to forget about me, focusing more on his career and the push that he was going to receive. I had nothing to do with you feuding initially as my dad thought it would be a good idea. Believe me, I had no hand in that. You asked me out, and I turned you down. I thought it was the right decision at the time, and I probably should've stuck with it. I didn't want to hurt your feelings then, when my feelings were so strong for Dave._

_But then I saw Dave with Stacy and my jealousy meter went off the charts, and I came up with a stupid plan. I thought I could use you to make Dave notice me, to see if he'd get jealous. In hindsight, was this plan stupid? More than you'll ever know. But I'm stupid I guess, because I thought this was the best course of action that I could take. And so I took it. I decided to play with an innocent man's feelings. I'm just sorry that the innocent man was you._

_I went to your hotel room that night, with the intentions of getting you to notice me, to want me. You did. Was that my fault? Yes, it was, because I hardly gave you any other choice. I practically forced myself on you, and while you may be thinking that you won't be sorry for the sex (or maybe you will), I'm sorry for it. I shouldn't have taken advantage of your feelings for me. If it's any consolation, and I don't see how it can be, after what I've done, but you were great in bed. I'm talking the best I've ever had…and please don't think I'm a slut, it's not true, we both know it._

_But the next morning, you were so happy, and I guess that was the beginning of my demise. I didn't expect you to be so happy. I didn't expect myself to be so happy with you, but in truth, I was. I was happy with you, during the time that we were together. I'm just sorry that I couldn't appreciate you more. As time progressed, I began to realize that I liked you a lot. What I liked most was the spark in your eyes. I loved looking at that spark, and thinking it was just for me. I'm selfish like that, thinking that it was all for me._

_I didn't truly appreciate you, or feel that I was going to break you until I sprained my ankle. Dave came to see me, and Chris, that's why I sent you away, not because you were mad, but because I wanted to be alone with Dave. I'm sorry that it had to come to that, I really am, but I told you I was going to tell you the truth, and here I am, telling you the truth. I thought that I could make Dave notice me, and like me, and I can almost say that I sprained my ankle on purpose…or at least used it to get Dave to talk to me._

_It was a comment I said off-handedly that got to me. I still remember it, though I cannot remember what I had for breakfast two weeks ago. It's weird the things that stick in your mind. I said that you just didn't like to see me hurt. It hit me then, how much you cared about me. And how much I didn't want to hurt you. I struggled with that for two more months, until the other night. Every time you would say something, I would hope that it wasn't something positive about me, because it only made me feel worse._

_You did though, and I never deserved anything. I did appreciate you Chris, I still do, and I hope that helps, even if it doesn't, it's true. I didn't want to see that light go out in your eyes. I didn't want to cause you any pain. And that's why I didn't break it off sooner. Now that I think about it…I never had any intention of breaking it off with you the other night, or tonight, or any day coming soon. I don't know when my plan would've worked itself out, but I couldn't see myself actually doing the breaking. That's how much I wanted to see that light in your eyes stay there._

_You must think me silly for wanting to keep a light in your eyes, but I saw it there Chris, and it…I didn't want you to lose it, not over me. Would I eventually have broken your heart? Yes, partially because of Dave, and partially because Chris, you can do better than me. I'm manipulative, and I'm scheming, and conniving, and while you said those were all things that you liked about me, please don't like them about me anymore. _

_I'm sorry for what happened. I'm so sorry that you fell in love with me, and I didn't return those feelings at all. But know that I cared Chris. I cared enough to want that light to stay in your eyes. I cared enough to stay with you, no matter how you want to take that, I stayed because I wanted to protect you, and I don't regret anything we DID, I just regret every thought I did them with. I had so much fun with you, and you are such a great guy. I'm sorry that I couldn't feel more for you._

_Please don't hate me Chris, I couldn't bear it if you did. I'm going to have my father approve writing us apart. I'm not going to immediately go after Dave, or do something rash, I've learned my lesson, and I need to think before I do anything stupid. But after my father approves the change in storyline, we'll probably have to do one more scene and then we're over, both on-screen and off._

_I don't let myself believe that we'll ever be friends again. I may be stupid, but I'm not so stupid I think that things can get back on track with us. You don't need my permission, but you have my permission to never speak to me again. I deserve it, I really do, forever and ever, with no remorse. Just don't hate me. I can stand the never talking, but I just couldn't stand it if every time I saw you, I could say there was someone who hates me. So please Chris, if you have it in your heart not to hate me, I'd really appreciate it. But if you find it too hard, please don't. Don't do anything you don't want to do._

_And please be happy. Please don't dwell on anything I've done to you. I should be the one retracing every step of our relationship, wondering why I did this, or that. You shouldn't. Because Chris, you were perfect, and any girl would be lucky to have you. I was lucky for a while, but I blew it, and you deserve so much better. The other night, you said that you couldn't believe that someone like you could get someone like me. That's not true, because you are far better than I've ever been, so please, just…I'm sorry._

_Sincerely, _

_Stephanie _

* * *

**Stephanie,**

**I won't lie to you because I never lied to you before, and starting now would be pointless. Your letter was read, because I needed hear the truth. It hurts, yes, but at least you told it to me. **

**You're right, I don't ever want to talk to you again, and our last scene together will probably be the last time we speak, unless business matters make our paths cross again. I hope it doesn't, but we work together, and I don't feel like quitting, and you're not going anywhere, so we're stuck for now.**

**I appreciate your candor, and while I don't appreciate the words that accompanied that, and I'm trying to be as professional as possible here, I do not hate you, nor will I ever hate you. You hurt me yes, but I don't hate you, don't live life thinking that I do.**

**I'm trying to be very formal with this because if I don't, I think I might break. But I'm not broken yet, and I don't intend to be. I hope that whatever you do in life brings you happiness, whether it be Dave, or someone else. **

**Chris Jericho**

* * *

_Chris,_

_Attached is the script for tonight's show. I figured that it should be scripted because if we let our real voices be heard, it might not end up the way either of us wants it to end up._

_I think you'll find it satisfactory, short and simple. If you find anything wrong, feel free to write me a note and leave it in my office. Or if you want to give it to someone else, that's fine too. As long as it reaches me, the way that it gets there isn't a problem._

_I just decided to end it without fanfare, or anything, but enough to create a safe barrier between the two of us. I don't plan to put myself on television for a while, and you need not worry that I show up somewhere down the line where I might have to come in contact with you. It's probably best for the both of us._

_Thank you for not hating me. I know that it was probably not an easy decision to make, but I thank you from the bottom of my heart for making it. I don't blame you for never wanting to speak with me again, I wouldn't want to speak with me either. I guess this way, all the past hurts won't be at the forefront. I knew you wouldn't want to speak again, though I hoped that one day you might. Maybe someday you will, but I won't hold my breath for it, I would lose air pretty quickly if I did._

_But it's your decision, and I can do nothing but respect that. I'm still sorry Chris, and I hope that you will know that I mean this. If I could say it to you without feeling foolish, I would. I still know you better than I've know anyone Chris, and that's a comfort to me, though you may hate it. You know me better than anyone, and I'm still scratching my head as to how I let that happen. I got sloppy, and I let myself at least immerse myself into this relationship, however phony I intended it to be at the start._

_Good luck, and I guess that I'll see you later when we have our final scene together._

* * *

**Stephanie,**

**Not to bring this up any more than it has to be…but don't you think that the scene is a little too personal? We were business partners, not dating…**

* * *

_I guess that you're right, I'm sorry, I'll have it changed._

* * *

_This is the new script, I hope you're ok with this one._

* * *

"Where the hell were you?" 

"What was that?"

"You didn't interfere for me."

"I didn't know I was supposed to. I thought you were the King of the World or something, you'd expect the King of the World to be able to handle himself out there."

"I CAN handle myself down there, but when you have a business partner and they tell you that they've got your back, and someone has just laid you out with a chair, you expect them there!"

"Well, I'm so sorry for you Chris Jericho! But I'm not your slave, you can't order me around!"

"I'm not ordering you around Stephanie! I just expect you out there!"

"Well don't expect me anymore, we're through!"

"I knew you'd turn your back on me, selfish to the end Stephanie McMahon!"

"You're damn right I am, I'm the best thing around, and I don't need you!"

"I don't need you either, we're over!"

"FINE!"

"FINE TOO!"

* * *

And that's how it officially ended. 


	9. Chapter 9

She felt off somehow. She couldn't explain it in detail, but she definitely felt off. She hated to admit it to herself, but she had gotten used to being with Chris. She had gotten used to being around him, and talking to him, and now…she just wasn't. Her plan had backfired, and now she had nothing and nobody, and it all seemed in vain.

She missed his arm. She missed the way he would drape his arm across her stomach while he slept. She missed the extra weight that it gave her, and the feeling of his warmth across her midsection. She missed having it there to touch and to caress and to just be there as a constant reminder that she wasn't as alone as she had sometimes felt.

After their final scene together, they had not spoken to each other, per Chris's request. She had to respect his wishes, after she had hurt him so badly. But she still missed him, and it both confused and angered her. She shouldn't be missing him, not after what she had done to him. She had so blatantly used him, and that made her angry with herself for getting so attached to something she had no intention of ever pursuing.

She had even woken up this morning, thinking that he would be there, watching her. It wasn't a creepy kind of watching, but just kind of a wonder that he expressed. Thinking back now, it was probably in awe that he was actually with her. She remembered that he had said something to that affect; that he was shocked that he had actually been with her. She should've been shocked that he was with HER.

She didn't deserve Chris's love, she never had. He was too good a guy for her, and she regretted that she had hurt him so bad. She'd like to plead temporary insanity for thinking a stupid plan would somehow work out for the best, but she couldn't even do that much. She had been a selfish fool; she had seen something she wanted, and like the little girl that she had been for so long, she thought it would be easy to grab. She had gotten everything that she wanted for so long that she thought she was entitled to Dave, by any means necessary.

Those means brought her to Chris, and she didn't know why she thought that he wouldn't get his feelings hurt. She had used him, like he was a pawn in a game that she was playing, and in essence and execution, that's exactly what he was. He was just a pawn in her sick, twisted game. She had de-humanized him, made him an object that she thought she could use to her advantage and never think about once her plan was over. But it hadn't ended up like that.

Chris had feelings, and his feelings had been hurt, and she was the only one to blame. Chris had never treated her anything but wonderfully and she had, in response, treated him like he was nothing. And nothing could take away the hurt that she felt for treating him like she did. Nothing was going to heal that pain because she knew that nothing could make up for that. Nothing could make up for the fact that she had taken his feelings and twisted them.

"Stephanie."

She looked up and saw her brother sitting in front of her, and she vaguely wondered how long he had been standing there. She didn't recall hearing the door, or his footsteps, or the three times that he cleared his throat. She barely saw him now, her eyes squinted from staring at the small type of her documents for so long. She words had been swimming in front her face, but she had all but ignored them, instead getting lost in her thoughts.

"Yeah?" she asked, not even trying to fake the pretense of being jovial.

"What's up?" he said, trying to start off with an easy question that she wouldn't get too upset with, or try to elude.

"Working," she said shortly, trying to look back down at the page, but finding the words still too small and too jumbled for her tired brain to comprehend.

"Are you ok?" Shane said, kneeling in front of her desk and leaning his arms across it, trying to look into her dark, soulless eyes. She evaded his look, staring at the wall. People asked that question frequently, and all over the world. Was anyone really ok? Could anyone go through their daily lives and say that everything was ok? Why did people ask such a stupid question? It brought her no comfort, and she hated the responses that she was forced to give.

"Do I not look ok?" she asked, answering a question with a question and Shane sighed at the old tactic.

"No, you don't look ok. You haven't looked ok since you and Chris broke up. Mom and Dad actually wanted me to come here and talk to you about it. That's how worried they both are about you."

"So they sent their lackey," she said bitterly.

"We've just noticed…"

"Noticed that I broke up with Chris. What tipped you off? The fact that we aren't together anymore? I mean, really, was that the big surprise?"

"Stephanie, you haven't been the same. What happened between you and Chris? Did he say something, did he cheat on you?"

"Oh, if only it were that easy," Stephanie spat out, wishing that she could go back and not make Chris hurt, to not extinguish that light from his eyes, and crush his heart like it was a bug on the floor in front of her.

"So he did do something? I knew it, I knew that he wasn't your type. He's too loud for you, I always thought he was too loud for you. Not that he's a bad guy, just not who I pictured you with." Shane was actually friends with Chris, so he felt comfortable in saying that, though Stephanie knew it was a lie. She had overheard Shane discussing how awesome it was that Chris was dating Stephanie, and how he was totally and completely behind this relationship.

"Liar," she said good-naturedly, catching the embarrassed glance from Shane. "You loved that I was with him."

"Ok, so I was glad. But really, what happened?"

"If I told you, you would lose all respect for me, and you would probably go to Chris and congratulate him on getting away from me," she told him honestly.

"I don't think so," Shane said. "You're my sister, I'm obligated to love you. It's the McMahon way."

Stephanie wondered if telling someone would make it better or make it worse. She figured it would be worse because she would come across as the most disgusting human being on the face of the Earth. She was a disgusting human being though, for treating Chris the way she had. She deserved the scorn and accusations from her peers because she had sunk to the lowest of the low. She deserved to go to hell for what she had done.

"I never wanted to be with Chris," Stephanie said bluntly, not holding back now.

"Come again?" Shane said, confused by her sudden statement.

"I didn't," she shrugged helplessly. "I was using him, the entire time, I was using him for my own personal gains."

"Stephanie, what are you babbling about? You were with the guy for months."

"To try and get Dave Batista to fall for me. I wanted Dave to get jealous, to notice me, and they always say that a guy starts to notice a girl when she's taken, and I was taken, and Dave noticed me. Chris, he told me he liked me, and I saw that opportunity to make Dave jealous, so I told Chris I'd be with him, not in so many words, but there were actions," she said, ranting now, "But then when I started going out with him, I saw how much he liked me, and I didn't want to hurt him. I didn't want him to be sad over me, because I didn't deserve it. I'm wretched, and stupid, and a horrible, horrible person. And then he told me he loved me, and I couldn't do it anymore, I couldn't let him go on thinking that I was all in, or even really in the relationship, because I wanted Dave, I wanted to be with Dave, and I was using Chris. And I hurt him, and he's hurting because of me, and I did that. And I deserve everything I get for this. I'm hell-bound."

Shane sat in surprised silence as Stephanie let out the whole sordid tale. He didn't know what to say to her. He was angry with her though, he knew that much. She was hurting, but he was angry all the same. She had no right to treat someone like that, to use someone so blatantly for her own desires. Shane had seen Chris, and seen the way that he looked at Stephanie, and Stephanie had been using him.

"Stephanie, I didn't know you would be capable of doing such a thing," Shane said, and she could hear the disappointment a mile away.

"Please, hate me," she told him, nodding her head. "I deserve it. I deserve to be hated."

"You do," he agreed, and she wasn't even shocked. She knew that she should be hated, by everyone. Because everyone loved Chris, and she deserved to be hated. "But I don't hate you."

"No, you really should," she responded.

"What you did was terrible, but I think you're being punished enough," Shane said. "Look at yourself, you're torn up about it, I can tell."

She looked down at her wrinkled clothes, not even caring that she didn't match, or that she was wearing two different colored socks. "I know, I hurt him. I took the light away from him, and I never thought it would hurt this bad."

"Why are you hurting Stephanie? Is it because of what you did to him? Or is it because you miss him?"

"I miss his arm," she said, finally breaking down and hunching over in her chair, her face being covered by her two hands with the nail polish chipping. She had not cared enough to get another manicure. What Shane saw was not his sister, but a woman who was torn apart. Her hair was ratty and unkempt, pulled back into a ponytail, but with hair escaping everywhere. Her t-shirt was old, and looked like it had a hole in the shoulder, and her jeans were worn and faded. Her earrings didn't match, and her face was removed of makeup.

"You miss his arm?"

Stephanie nodded from behind her hands, her voice muffled and broken, "He would always sleep with his arm across my waist, and I got used to it. I got so used to it, and before I'd go to bed, he would just be talking and I would just caress his arm, and…I…I miss his arm."

She wasn't crying. She didn't deserve to cry, but on the inside, her stomach was clenching, and her heart was aching. She still didn't expect this to hurt so much. She thought that first night had been hard, lying in that bed alone, the one he had occupied with her earlier that evening, but every subsequent night had been hard as well. She didn't have his lingering cologne, or his warmth on the sheets, but that almost made it worse because she didn't have anything to cling to.

It was at this time that Shane knew she needed her big brother; hell, she just needed someone who would see that she was hurting over this too. He got up and crossed the desk, kneeling down again next to her chair. He swiveled it to face him and took his little sister into his arms. She seemed fragile, a girl of seven again, the one that he had seen fall off her bike and cry, running into the house and vowing that she was going to throw the bike into the street and never ride again. She was that girl again, and she needed her big brother. He rubbed the back of her head, holding her and trying to comfort her, but she was beyond comfort.

Stephanie clung to her brother, the only person in the world who could possibly comfort her right now. He was always a good brother, had threatened to beat up anyone for her when they were younger, and willing to send any wrestler out to help her when they were older. But nothing was going to stop this hurt from happening. Nothing was going to stop this ache in her heart because it was her fault, and she couldn't reconcile with herself.

"Stephy girl," he said, using his pet name for her. "Don't be sad."

"I can't help it," she said softly. "I miss his arm."

"I think you miss all of him," Shane said just as softly. "Why don't you talk to him about this?"

"I can't, I made a promise. I told him I'd never speak to him again, and he told me that would be for the best."

"He was probably trying to-"

"No Shane, he doesn't want to speak to me ever again," she told him. "And I have to respect those wishes because I hurt him, because I'm a wretched, wretched person."

"You're not wretched," he said, smoothing down some of her hair. "You're just…you're immature. You thought that this was the only way to get what you wanted."

"You have a way with words Shane McMahon, but you're a bad liar. I'm wretched," she said, a teary laugh, despite the no tears coming from her eyes.

"I still think that you should talk to him. Stephanie," he paused, letting out a breath slowly. "You are immature on some level, and your self-awareness is definitely lacking, because this looks to me like you want Chris, and I'm not talking about using him or anything. I think that you want Chris in every sense of the word. I think that you…I think you were invested in that relationship."

"No, I wasn't. Every time I saw Dave, I was trying to be all over him, flirting, and what not. I wanted Dave the entire time."

Shane pursed his lips and then looked at the top of her head, sorting out the words and images he was conjuring up, "Chris had a big match against…Hunter, I believe it was. He was jumping around anxiously and you kept telling him to calm down, that everything would be great, and he would be great. He kept jumping around. You took his hand, grinned and then kissed him until he forgot about his anxiety."

"That's a nice story, I wish it had happened," Stephanie said amusedly, or about as amused as she could muster at the moment.

"It did," Shane told her. "Like a month ago."

"Then I must've been drunk or something."

"I hardly think you were drunk. I think you just wanted him to calm down. I think that you want him."

"I want Dave," she said stubbornly.

"Fine Stephanie, you want Dave, and if that's the case, why do you look like you haven't slept in a week?"

"I told you, I miss his-"

"Yeah, yeah, his arm, you miss his arm, but he kind of comes attached to that arm, you know. Why haven't you been sleeping, really? Are you lonely? And if you are lonely, are you wanting for Chris, or are you wanting for Dave?"

"I've wanted Dave for so long, he's been this dream for me, and I think he does like me, everything he's been telling me, and the way he's been acting towards me. I think that I have a real shot."

Shane sighed. Obviously Stephanie was still very much a little girl, a naïve, simple-minded, little girl. She couldn't see why she was so upset, still thinking that what she dreamed of was what she really wanted. Shane knew he couldn't push her to see what was right there, but he had to try. He saw what this was doing to his little sister, and he wanted her to gain that foresight, to know what was right and what was not so right.

"Fine, if that's the way that you feel, try to go after Dave, and then see what happens. See if you're happy with him," Shane told her. "See if he's everything that you've always wanted. But Stephanie, I'm not holding my breath that that's going to happen."

"But I want him, I love him, I'm in love with him, he just doesn't know it!" she exclaimed, a fire coming back to her. So very, very naïve.

"And yet you miss Chris's arm," Shane said.

"Would you shut up about Chris!" Stephanie said, getting up rather abruptly. "Chris hates me, and he should, and anything I've felt for him, it's over! He hates me, he would never want me again! It doesn't even matter if I love him or not!"

Shane raised an eyebrow and looked her dead in the eye, "So you ARE in love with him."

Stephanie scoffed, "No, I said if I was in love with him, which I'm not. Look, I'm respecting his wishes Shane, I'm respecting the decision that he made not to see me again, or talk to me again. I respect those wishes now, and I will in the future."

"Ok, if you say so."

"Don't tell me if I say so!" Stephanie said. "I need some fresh air…and I don't love Chris!"

"I get that," Shane said.

Stephanie ran out of the room, and ignoring the way she looked, she wandered up and down the hallways, going nowhere and everywhere in particular. She had no set path, no just cause for deciding to turn right instead of left, or backwards instead of forwards, she was just walking, like she had someone chasing her, like the halls were a labyrinth and she was trying to escape the great monster that was coming for her.

But then the monster snuck up on her in the most unexpected and heart wrenching way as she saw him standing there, laughing and…looking incredible. Chris was there, Chris was right there, and if she moved a couple feet forward, he would be able to reach, and he would wrap his arm around her waist and she would feel like she wasn't empty and she wasn't the most wicked, horrible, detestable human being in the entire world. She would feel his comforting arm, and his comforting presence, and she wouldn't look so gaunt and her face wouldn't look so sullen, and her eyes wouldn't look like she hadn't slept in years, and she wouldn't look like…well, like she did right now.

And then she noticed the laughing could've been attached to flirting because he was standing in front of Lita, who was newly single herself, now that the separation from Matt had been too permanent. And Lita had her hand on his arm, squeezing it gently. Stephanie's first thought, and the only thought that rang through her brain was the fact that, that was her arm. Chris's arm was HER'S and not Lita's to touch and caress and hold.

Chris looked up briefly and caught sight of Stephanie looking at him, and it was seriously the first time he had taken a moment to look at her in the weeks since they had broken up, or as he thought of it, as her plan had failed, because to him, now, there was no relationship, and he knew no Stephanie McMahon, and she had not tugged on his heartstrings, and she was non-existent in his universe. He'd all but ignored her presence, never looking at her, not once.

He should've…or maybe he shouldn't have because what he sees is something he didn't expect.

She looks like she's been hit by a bus, been in a coma for five years, and just came running in after waking up. And he wants to go to her, that much he can process, but Lita is there, and Stephanie is not a part of his life anymore, and she has not talked to him, nor him to her, and that's the way that it had to be. Even though he thinks she's wearing a shirt with holes in it, something he didn't think her capable of. And he notices her arm has wrapped around her stomach, like she needed the weight there, or something odd like that. He tries to look away and finally forces himself to look away and back to Lita.

"So Lita," Chris said, his voice rising a little, "About that date?"

"You in?"

"I'm in," he said to her, knowing that Stephanie could hear, and in some perverse way, he wants her to hear. He wants to prove that he can make it without her.

Little did he know that Stephanie was having a hard time making it without him.


	10. Chapter 10

Stephanie stood frozen as she heard Chris say that, but she didn't stay frozen for too long. No, because the hot burning of anger was bubbling up inside her. She was mad; she was beyond mad. There was lava flowing through her veins at this very second, and it was burning her skin, making her have a nice, pinkish glow. Did she have the right to be so angry with Chris? No, but that didn't stop her from being angry.

For Chris's part, he wasn't really interested in Lita, but he wanted to make Stephanie jealous, make her realize just what she had missed out on. Yes, it was pretty much doing the exact thing she had done to him, to Lita, but right now, Chris had no outstanding morals. He thought nothing of it because Stephanie had opened up a world of hurt inside his chest, and he would do anything just to feel normal again.

He still loved her, and that was the most pathetic thing that he had ever done in his life. She had used him, and treated him as a pawn in some sick, twisted game, but heaven help him, he was in love with her. Those months they had been together, regardless of the fact she was blatantly using him, they had been some of the most exhilarating of his life. Stephanie was something else altogether, and if he clouded his brain enough…he would…he could actually think that she was in love with him.

Stephanie turned on her heel so quickly that her hair flung back in its ponytail. She knew that she didn't have a right to be so angry and jealous over Chris, but those thoughts were overridden by that same anger and jealousy. The fact that she was a horrible person was no longer at the forefront of her brain. All she wanted now was to get back at Chris. For what, she wasn't too sure, but something deep in her chest hurt, and she wanted to get rid of that hurt as soon as possible.

"So you'll pick me up after the show?" Lita asked Chris. He had been staring at Stephanie walking away, silently pleased that she had looked so upset. It served her right to get a dose of her own medicine. "Chris!"

"Huh?" Chris said, jolted out of his small victory. "What did you say?"

"I was saying, did you want to pick me up after the show?" she asked again.

"Um…yeah, sure, that's fine," he said casually, and she looked at him strangely. Just a moment ago he had been so receptive to the concept of a date between them, and now he seemed so distant.

"Are you sure? If you don't want to go…"

"No, its fine," he said, plastering a smile on his face. He was going to go through with this, and what could it hurt? He'd go out with her a couple of times, and maybe he would actually enjoy himself. And maybe it would make Stephanie so angry that she would scream, and then HE could be the one who rejected her.

"Ok, then after the show?"

"Yeah, after the show," he said, reiterating her point. She patted him on the arm and walked away, a small smile on her face. Chris winced a little bit at what he was doing, but he was beyond the point where feelings could be hurt. He was hurt, and he needed to lash out.

Stephanie stalked back to her office, slamming the door shut behind her. She didn't even realize that Shane was still in there and he was sitting at her desk. She paced around for a few minutes before intending to go back to her work, only to gasp and grab her chest when she saw that Shane was sitting there.

"You've been here the entire time?" she asked stupidly.

"I never left," he said. "What's got you so worked up?"

"Chris!" she yelled. "He asked out Lita right in front of me!"

"Um…so? It's not like he's your boyfriend anymore," Shane pointed out. "It wasn't like he was your boyfriend before either."

"He just asked her to get back at me," Stephanie said with disgust. "Can you believe that! He's trying to get back at me!"

"Maybe it's because you used him for months, and pretended to have a relationship with him. Maybe that hurt him in some capacity."

"That's beside the point."

"Stephanie, give the man a break! Maybe he's just trying to move on with his life after you knocked him down. I can't believe you sometimes. The guy is obviously hurt after what he did. You shouldn't get in his way if he wants to be with someone else, the entire time you were together, YOU wanted to be with someone else."

"What's your problem?" she snapped.

"I'm sick and tired of hearing this," Shane said angrily, standing up. "Chris is my friend, if you haven't forgotten, and God, you broke his heart. I'm sorry sis, but I'm not going to have too much more sympathy to dole out here. Either you love the guy or you don't, but you obviously don't because you wanted Dave. Give Chris a chance to find someone too."

"Fine, if you're sick and tired of me, why don't you just get out!" she yelled, pointing towards the door. "You know how to use it, so use it!"

"I don't know why I even try with you Stephanie. You just don't get it."

"No, I guess I don't. I don't care what Chris does…there, does that make you happy? He can do whatever and whoever he wants. I don't care, he's not mine, is that good enough for you Shane?"

"No Stephanie, and I don't think its good enough for you either," Shane said, opening the door and then leaving Stephanie to herself again.

The anger was still boiling inside her, and she took a vase full of flowers and heaved it towards the wall, shattering it into a many pieces, the water dripping down the wall as the colorful flowers decorated the drab gray carpet. She stomped angrily at nothing and sunk down into her chair. She was so upset right now that she could barely sit still, and she kept getting up and then sitting down again.

"Bastard," she muttered under her breath, hitting her fist against the desk in front of her. "Well, if he wants to be like that, fine! Fine, I don't care, I don't care at all!"

Stephanie resolved herself and stood up once again. She wasn't going to sit around and take this. She wasn't going to let Chris do this to her! She was Stephanie McMahon, and she wasn't going to stand for some…subordinate getting the better of her. She went to her bag and grabbed some clothes she kept in there for emergencies, or if she needed to go out and cut a promo or something. She put on the sexiest thing she had and went to the bathroom.

Her hair was a mess, but if she just combed it out and strategically coiffed it, then she could make it look presentable. She put on some makeup and tried not to look like she was lacking sleep. She smiled at her appearance; she finally looked normal again, and not like her best friend had died. If Chris wanted to play that game, she would play it right back. She was going to get what she wanted. She popped a mint into her mouth and left her locker room, walking proudly down the hallway.

She walked to where she knew Dave would be, and sure enough, he was there, and she went right up to him and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned a surprised eye towards her before smiling cordially. She smiled back and was feeling very good for herself. Dave was what she had wanted all along, so this was really just getting what she wanted, and not getting back at Chris.

"Steph, hey," Dave said, "You look great."

"Thanks," she answered coyly.

"I heard you'd been having a tough time lately, I'm sorry to hear that," he told her sympathetically. She was happy that he was concerned for her; it meant that he had been thinking about her, and she wanted to be on his mind as much as possible.

"Oh, yeah, that," she said, blowing it off. "It's not a big deal, I was just not myself, I think I had a bug or something."

"Oh," Dave said, though he didn't believe that. "So what's up?"

"Well, I was wondering if you would want to go out with me sometime."

"Oh wow, I wasn't expecting that."

"It can be casual," she shrugged. "I just thought it would be fun, you know, just the two of us. I hope I'm not being too forward."

"No, of course not, this is just unexpected."

"The good kind of unexpected I hope," she replied, putting her hand on his muscular arm. "Because if it's the other kind, I'll be so embarrassed."

"Nah, it's the good kind," Dave smiled. "But are you sure you want to go out. I mean, what with everything that happen…with Chris."

"Oh, Chris and I are very over, very, very over," Stephanie said, an edge to her voice. "Chris and I were a mistake from the beginning."

"Seriously?" Dave asked in surprise. "Because you two seemed so happy. Everyone thought that you were really happy."

"Well, um," she stumbled on her words, because she didn't want to admit that she was happy. She wanted to remember Chris with derision, but she…couldn't. She and Chris had had a lot of fun together, and there had been way more good times than she would like to admit. She hated thinking about it though because Chris hated her, and she hated him…or at least she was trying. She was trying so hard to hate him with everything in her. "Yeah, for…we were, but things changed."

"Oh, did something happen?" he asked quietly.

"Yeah, but it was…mutual, it wasn't anything that could've been helped," she answered, looking down. She was a screw-up, that's why. "But onto better topics, dinner?"

"Yeah, I like a girl with initiative," Dave answered with a smile. "I'll pick you up at your office after the show, how does that sound?"

"I believe that I asked you out, so doesn't that mean that I get to pick you up," Stephanie teased.

"I figured I could at least be the guy at one point," he joked.

"Oh, well, in that case, yes, after the show, I'll be there, ready and waiting," she said with a smile, patting his arm, just like Lita had done to Chris. "Til then."

"Bye Steph. Do you care where we go?"

"Nope, surprise me," she called out.

Stephanie walked away, satisfied with herself. Finally, FINALLY she was getting Dave, the guy that she had wanted all along. Chris was pushed out of her mind as she thought about how much fun she was sure to have when she went out with Dave later. She was so sure that she was going to have more fun than she had ever had with Chris.

Chris had seen the entire exchange and he was pissed off. Why, he couldn't tell you because he didn't know. He guessed it was seeing the fruition of Stephanie's plan with him. If she had just done that beforehand he never would be hurt. Sure, he would have the hurt of never getting the chance to go out with her, but he wouldn't have to deal with the pain of having her and then losing her…or never having her at all, if he thought about it.

Stephanie walked past him, glancing to the side briefly before stopping in her tracks, gasping at seeing Chris. He stared at her, and she stared back, defiantly. She wasn't going to show weakness right now. Chris noticed how different she had looked from earlier. She had obviously cleaned herself up.

"So you're finally getting what you wanted," Chris said condescendingly.

"Yeah," Stephanie said with a sneer. "It was easy too, I guess I didn't need you."

That stabbed Chris in the throat and he had to swallow hard the hurt that rose up in him. Remembering the good things about Stephanie had been so easy when he wasn't talking to her, but the way that she said that, it hurt all the more. He had told her that he loved her, and she had told him that she used him. Now she had the audacity to treat him like scum.

Stephanie regretted the way that she had said that, and after a moment, looked down, "I'm sorry, that was rude of me, and I shouldn't have said that."

"It's the truth though isn't it?" he scoffed.

"I shouldn't have said that," she repeated, not knowing what else to say. "I should go."

"And get ready for your date?" Chris asked, and she noted the hurt in his voice.

"No, I have a show to run," Stephanie said.

"Oh, well, yeah, I guess you do have that."

"Chris, I can tell you don't want to talk to me, so why don't I just go?" Stephanie said.

"Don't be sympathetic Stephanie," Chris lashed out, "What do you have to be sympathetic about? You hurt me, and you can't take that back, so don't act like you're sorry."

"I am sorry, I wrote you that I was sorry!" she argued.

"Why did you hurt me Steph? Why did you have to treat me like that!" he asked, wanting to hear it directly from her mouth, to hear her say the words.

"Because I wanted something and I would've done anything to get it!" she said loudly.

"Do you have any remorse?"

"Of course I do. I didn't want to hurt you."

"But you did, and you know, it's so damn sad because I still love you, you know."

"You shouldn't," she said, closing her eyes.

"Then tell me how to stop," he said, and his voice was so low and so sad that she almost reached for him, just to take him in her arms and try to assuage his sadness, but she couldn't because she was the one who had done this to him.

She opened her eyes and saw him looking down at his shoes, and she felt even worse. "Because I'm the last person who deserves your love."

"That's true, but that still doesn't make it better, it doesn't make me better."

She couldn't believe she was about to say this, but she was, "Then go out with Lita, have fun, and eventually, you'll find out that I'm scum, and a bitch, and that the last thing that I would ever deserve is love from you. I want you to hate me Chris, because that's the only way that you'll move on. So please…hate me."

"I can try, but I make no promises."

"I'm not good enough for you. You may have said once upon a time that you weren't good enough for me, but that's so wrong."

"You know…never mind," he said, not finishing his thought. "I'll try and have fun."

Little did she know that he was trying to make her jealous, and essentially, she was doing the same to him. She stared at him for a moment, keeping his gaze. He didn't look away though, he stood firm and looked right back at her. She appeared to be opening her mouth to say something, but then thought the better of it, closing her mouth once again, and going so far as to purse her lips.

Chris called her on it, "You got something to say?"

"No," she said, but her voice had faltered ever so slightly, and she had wanted to say something. She didn't know what that something was, and suddenly she felt tired again, and her eyes were probably hollow and her face sallow.

"Then there's nothing more that we need to say to each other right? I mean, we said what we had to, and we're both obviously moving on to other people, and so we don't really have much to say do we?" Stephanie shook her head slowly because it suddenly felt heavy sitting there atop her head.

"No, we don't have anything else to say."


	11. Chapter 11

"So then I was telling him that he could date whomever he wanted, pretty much, and you know, that was it."

"Sounds brutal," Dave nodded, reaching across the table to grab Stephanie's hand. Stephanie looked down at it and smiled. His hand completely covered hers. He was so strong, and so well-dressed. She had seen a few of the jealous stares of other women in the restaurant, and she delighted in it.

"It was, but I guess Chris and I just weren't meant to be, you know, it happens," Stephanie said, trying to sound nonchalant about the entire thing, but it was kind of difficult to do.

Earlier that evening she had seen Chris and Lita leaving the arena together, and she had been angry. She had no right to be angry of course, but she was angry nonetheless. Maybe she was just possessive, but to go from her to Lita, it was like a step down for Chris. Of course that brought up the entire thing of her using him for her own personal gains and just what that entailed.

"Yeah, I know, it's rough, this whole dating thing," Dave told her.

"I don't believe for a second that you've had any trouble getting any girl that you wanted," Stephanie said with a giggle.

"With my schedule, it actually is hard," Dave told her. "I guess I should find someone in the company because it would be a lot easier to be around them."

Stephanie was glad to hear that. If Dave was interested in seeing someone in the company she hoped that she could be that particular girl. She had been having fun with Dave so far. They seemed to have a lot of things to talk about and the conversation never lagged. It was nice to see that after all the fantasizing she had done about the two of them, it seemed things were going just as planned.

"Yeah, I feel the same way, I guess that's why I was seeing Hunter and Chris," Stephanie said.

"And what did you think of it? Did you spend too much time together when you were with them? Or was it just right?" Dave asked, trying to get her opinion on inter-company dating. Stephanie looked down a moment.

"It was different with the both of them," she answered. "With Hunter it was…we hardly ever spent time together outside of being at work. I guess we just didn't have as much in common as we had hoped."

"And with Chris?" Dave asked. Stephanie didn't want to think about Chris. She thought about it and they spent so much time together that they seemed inseparable, and for a time they were. But that was all a farce perpetrated by herself and she didn't want to think about Chris right now…or ever again.

"With Chris it was better," she said simply, leaving it at that. Dave just thought she was still a little broken up over the break-up and didn't ask her any follow-up questions. He didn't want to bring her to any bad places.

"So how did you get in the business?" Dave asked, then realized that sounded stupid. "I mean, I know that you grew up in it, but what made you decide to join it instead of doing something else?"

"I just knew that this was something I wanted to pursue. It's just like wrestling is in my blood you know, and I can't escape it no matter how hard I try, and why fight it when I love it so much."

"Yeah, I can understand that. I've become so used to it, it's like I can't live without it."

"Yeah, that's exactly it," Stephanie agreed. "You're really good too."

"Thanks," Dave told her. "I'm still learning."

"But you are just great and the crowd loves you in some weird way. I think it may have to do with how you dress," Stephanie said with a laugh, taking a sip of her drink. "You always look amazing. I think even Hunter is jealous of that."

"Well, we can't all be so smooth," Dave said, pretending to flip up his collar. "So did you want to order dessert?"

"No, I don't think that I could eat anymore if I tried," Stephanie answered, patting her stomach lightly. "I guess its good you've already seen me pig out so that if we go out you're not afraid of my eating habits."

"You weren't a pig," Dave assured her.

"Well thanks, that's a nice compliment," she joked.

The bill came and Dave paid it amidst her protests to at least let her help, but since this was a date, Dave felt the need to pay it. He even pulled out her chair for her and she was surprised by the gesture, taking his arm as he offered it. The night was chilly, but nothing that she couldn't handle and they waited for the valet to get their car.

"You're a fun date," Dave told her quietly.

Stephanie smiled carefully, not showing how happy he was that he had said that, but still showing that she appreciated the sentiment. She responded flirtily, "You are just being so complimentary tonight."

"I'm trying to make a good impression," he told her.

"You aren't having a difficult time doing that," Stephanie responded kindly. "You're doing a great job in fact."

"Score one for me," Dave said, chuckling. The valet pulled up and Dave once again held the door open for Stephanie and she gracefully climbed into the car. She watched the scenery go by as he drove back to their hotel. When there, he walked her up to her hotel room and stood out in front of it, holding both her hands. "Let's do this again next week."

"Is that an order?" she asked coyly.

"It is," he answered. "I figured I should be the one to take the initiative this time."

"Fine by me," Stephanie answered. "You know what else would be fine by me?"

"What?"

Stephanie leaned up and kissed him. It wasn't passionate or anything, but it was nice, and it was something that Stephanie had waited all too long for. She snuck her hands around his neck, letting him hold her up as he wrapped his strong arms around her slim waist. She let herself fall into the fantasy that was kissing Dave Batista and it was as good as she had thought it would be.

"I guarantee there will be one of those next time too," Stephanie told him as they pulled away. "Just a little incentive to get you back here."

"It worked too," Dave replied. "See you later?"

"I think we already confirmed that, but you will definitely be seeing me later, goodnight Dave."

"Night Stephanie."

She watched him walk off, trying to hold in her squeal. When he was out of sight, she opened the door to her hotel room and closed the door behind her with a gentle push. She turned towards her room and squealed in happiness, jumping up and down on her heels a little bit. She set her purse down on the table and ran her hands through her hair. She squealed again for good measure and collapsed onto the couch, stretching her feet out.

"Well, I'd say that went very well," Stephanie to herself, very satisfied. She was going to take it slower with Dave than she had with Chris, but that was only natural. She had slept with Chris before even dating him. Why was she even comparing them though? There was nothing in common between the two.

She got up again and went into the bathroom. She grabbed her robe off the back of the door and after taking off her clothes, slipped into the comfortable garment, pulling the cotton closer to her. She was glad to be in something comfy, and went to wash her face. She soaped up her face and then washed away all the makeup, glad to be rid of it and back to her natural face.

She looked up and was startled by what she saw. She wasn't aware that her bags were as worse as they were. She had done such a good job of hiding them that she hadn't really seen the full extent of them. But she looked like she hadn't slept, though that was the case. She ran her hands over her face, trying in vain to get rid of the bags, the sallow look of her face, but when she looked again nothing had changed. She knew it wouldn't.

But maybe now would better; now that she had gone out with Dave and there seemed to be a future with him, however short. Now she would be able to sleep because she had something with the man that she had wanted to be with from the start. That had to amass to a great night's sleep, something she had been sorely lacking since her "break-up" with Chris, if you could call what happened a break-up.

She walked back to her bed and sat down on it for a moment, trying to sort out her thoughts. She was definitely happy that she had had fun, but there was also something gnawing away at her stomach, something she couldn't quite identify. Maybe it was the starkness of her face and her expressions. Hopefully Dave couldn't see through her façade, couldn't see behind the make-up that she put on to cover up whatever it was that was bothering her about her time with Chris.

She got up again to put on some pajamas before climbing into the lonely bed. She looked off to the side to see the empty space and gently traced her hand over the pillow, as if touching it would make someone suddenly appear. But if she wanted someone to appear, who would she want to appear, whose face would she want across from hers? She was so confused and she didn't know what to make of it.

She wondered what Chris was doing at the moment, if he was out with Lita, or if he was doing something else with her. Maybe Lita had taken him to bed or something. Maybe they were in some post-coital cuddling or something and the thought disgusted her. But Chris wouldn't do that would he? Except for the fact that he had done it with her, but the circumstances had been different, so different.

She closed her eyes, trying to force sleep to come to her, but it wasn't complying with her. She sighed and opened them again, fearing that she would go one more night without sleep. She would sit up in her bed, turn on the television and drown herself in the sounds of people she didn't know, hoping they would bring her solace, maybe a little comfort through the night.

Maybe a drink would help, she thought to herself and got out of bed, putting her robe back on. She opened the mini-bar and took out a couple of those little bottles which contained the alcohol. She looked around for the ice bucket and seeing it sitting on top of the dresser, she snatched it angrily. She had become suddenly angry in the past few minutes, cursing Chris for making her have to drink to get to sleep.

With her luck she would run into him in the hallway, fresh from his date with Lita. He would probably be in a polo shirt and casual pants, still wearing his damn sunglasses because he thought they were so cool even though they would look stupid at this time of night, but he was Chris and you couldn't tell him what to do. He'd have a smirk on his face, a triumphant one, knowing that once again, he could have any girl that he wanted, and they would just fall at his feet.

Then he'd take one good look at her and laugh, laugh at how horrible she looked. Anyone could see it a mile away, could see that she looked horrible. Shane had called her on it earlier, before she had tried to make herself up for Dave. Shane wasn't dense, he could sense things, but the way she looked, the desolation on her face could be read by anyone, and she wouldn't be surprised if anyone she came across would pity her.

Or maybe she'd run into the two of them, and then she'd explode from the anger. Stephanie was a smart girl, but she couldn't explain the anger. Maybe she expected Chris to be more hurt by what she had done. She wanted him to pine for her. He had said once that he loved her, and although she had subsequently broken his heart, shouldn't he still love her? She didn't realize that she wanted his love, not because she loved him back but because she wanted that power again. She wanted the power over him.

"Stephanie."

She turned around and winced, "Hunter."

"What are you doing out so late?" he asked her.

"Nightcap," she told him, holding up her ice bucket. "Just needed a little something to help me sleep."

"You never needed one when we were together." Stephanie was going to make a crass remark about how they hardly even spent nights together, but bit her tongue. Her and Hunter had broken up and it had been such a long time ago she didn't really harbor any ill-will towards him. Or at least that's what she was telling herself at this very moment. She was just suddenly overcome with the need to forget her problems, and she wasn't even drunk.

"Yeah, well things change," Stephanie told him. "You want to join me for a drink?"

"Sure, I've got nothing better to do," Hunter said, following her to the ice machine. Stephanie got the ice and he followed her back to her room. She let him in and they sat together on the couch after Stephanie had gathered all of the alcohol that she could. They filled up their glasses and drank down the contents.

"Mmm," Stephanie groaned as the cool liquid slid down her throat. "That's just what I needed."

"You look like hell," Hunter told her after a few drinks.

"Well you'd look like hell too if your life was in shambles," she laughed. "I'm screwed up. I screwed up."

"Aww come on," Hunter slurred. "You're not that bad."

"Oh, but I am," Stephanie said. "Did you know that I didn't love Chris?"

"You didn't love me either."

"Because you were too busy sticking your you-know-what into other girl's goodies," Stephanie said, laughing loudly at her jokes, if they were jokes, your call. "I couldn't fall in love with you when you were doing other chicks."

"Too bad, I'm really great," Hunter told her.

"So is Chris," Stephanie replied then covered her mouth with her hand. "Oops, I wasn't supposed to say that!"

"Why not?"

"Because he hates me!" Stephanie said. "Everyone hates me but they're…I don't know."

"I don't hate you," Hunter told her. "I don't like you either, but I don't hate you."

"Oh thank you Hunter," Stephanie gushed, leaning closer to him, but falling down into him. "Oops, I'm so clumsy."

Hunter helped her up and Stephanie gazed at him lustily. She was drunk and Hunter was the only one around. She leaned forward a little and kissed him. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling since she had been here before many times. She leaned in even more, letting herself fall into Hunter, clinging to his shirt as he returned the kiss. She had no idea what she was doing, none at all.

And that suited her just fine.


	12. Chapter 12

Stephanie didn't know what she was doing. How could she when she had been drinking? If she had been sober, completely sober, there is no way that she would be making out with Hunter. She had gone through too much with him to ever want to kiss him again, but he was here and she was drunk and apparently the stars had aligned themselves in a strange way to bring her to this moment.

She didn't pull away and she didn't try to stop it, she just went along with it, letting his tongue slip into her alcohol-flavored mouth. She straddled him, clutching at him tightly, and if she would've just opened her eyes, she might have realized what a mistake this was, what a huge, huge mistake this was. She was trying to cover up something, something she couldn't quite figure out yet, lacking the clarity of mind to.

She finally pulled away, needing air, and that's when she opened her eyes. She stared through the slightly dark room and to the man that she was kissing and she grimaced as she finally realized who it was that she had been kissing. She swiped her arm across her mouth crudely and got off of Hunter's lap in a hurry, nearly falling down in the process.

"Ok, that was gross," Stephanie said, staring straight ahead.

"Well it's not like we aren't drinking," Hunter said, rather astutely for a drunk person.

"Yeah, I mean, I have Chris," Stephanie said, not even picking up her slip of tongue.

"I thought you broke up," Hunter said. "Isn't that what you were yakking on and on about earlier?"

"Oh yeah," Stephanie said, slapping her forehead and then laughing. "I'm not with Chris anymore. I'm with Dave now, hopefully. He's hot."

"I wouldn't know," Hunter said. "I don't look at guys."

"I know," Stephanie answered, "But you will run after every piece of ass that you see. Ugh, I can't believe we just did that. You should probably leave and never mention this to anyone."

"Like I would want to spread it around," Hunter said, standing up and wobbling a little bit on his feet. "I don't want you anymore Stephanie, there are must prettier girls around."

"Oh, thanks for the vote of confidence!" Stephanie said loudly as Hunter made his way to the door. "Nice to know that you still think of me in the same way that I think of you, which is to say that I hate you."

"I know you hate me, I hate you too," Hunter said, closing the door behind him and leaving Stephanie to her own devices, which was probably not a good idea.

Stephanie became keenly aware of the sudden quietness of the room. She looked around and felt slightly lonely. She didn't make any attempt to clean up all the bottles lying around, figuring the maid would clean up tomorrow, if she was able to get up and function tomorrow. She stood up and stumbled into the bedroom, falling on the bed, face up. She crawled inside and laid down, just laying there for a moment, thinking about what had transpired that evening.

She had talked about how Chris hated her and it was true, but he was absolutely justified in that hatred. His hatred was something that he deserved after what she had done to him. Maybe that was the entire reason for why she had taken this downturn in appearance and sleeping and any other normal function. It was all guilt, all remorse. No, she didn't love Chris, but she knew him enough to know that she had hurt him, and that hurt was building up inside of her because she had no way to let it out. She was carrying Chris's hurt with her and that was tearing her up.

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was something that was triggered inside of Stephanie, but she felt like she needed to talk to Chris, just to get this out, just to let him know that she was feeling hurt too, but it wasn't her own hurt, no, it was his hurt. She was holding his hurt inside of her like it was a blanket, covering her whole body. She needed to release it. Chris was releasing his hurt.

She got out of bed and realized she still had her shoes on. When had she put those on anyways? Must've been when she went to get ice. She walked down the hallway and to Chris's room, she knew which one it was because she ran the show and had their itineraries and room numbers. She just hoped a scantily-clad Lita wouldn't be answering the door or she might vomit all over her.

She knocked, not too softly, but softly enough so she didn't wake anyone else up. It was pretty late anyways, and people would probably be asleep. He opened the door, and it was almost like he was a vision. There was light coming from inside the room, and it surrounded him, like a halo of sorts, and he was rubbing his eyes sleepily, and scratching his chest before squinting to see Stephanie.

"Stephanie, what are you doing here?" Chris asked impatiently, angry that she had interrupted his precious sleep.

"I needed to talk to you," Stephanie said and Chris sighed deeply, not wanting to talk to her now, or ever for that matter. Hadn't she promised never to speak to him again?

"What happened to your promise?" Chris asked sardonically. "I thought you said--"

"I know what I said," Stephanie answered. She did know what she had said, but she was finding it increasingly difficult not talking to him. It wasn't like she was pining to speak to him, or hoping and praying, but she found it awkward at best.

"Then why don't you go by it," Chris said, starting to close the door. Stephanie put her hand against it.

"Look, I'm not one for begging, I don't beg and I don't plead, but I'm asking you, civilly, if you would just talk to me, just this once," Stephanie said and she was right, it didn't sound like pleading or begging, it almost sounded like a demand.

Chris knew that it was going to be hard to get her to leave, so he opened his door, "Can we make this quick, I was kind of busy."

Stephanie looked at him strangely, in a way he couldn't figure out. Like she was stricken or something and she froze in her tracks, standing there, suddenly looking very small and very scared. Chris looked at her, his brow furrowed, wondering why she had so suddenly changed her attitude and demeanor.

"Oh, well, if you're busy, and not alone, I can go," Stephanie said, hating the sound of her voice, it sounded…it didn't sound like her.

"I'm alone," Chris said, narrowing his eyes in confusion. "I was just busy sleeping."

And again, he noticed her demeanor change and she looked more confident again, more in control of what was going on. He wondered what was going on before she sat down on the couch. Chris was reluctant to sit down with her, and opted for the chair that was across the room. He waited for her to speak and she bit her lip, thinking.

"This situation…with us…I just realized that I'm carrying a lot of hurt from it," Stephanie started, looking at Chris earnestly.

"YOU are carrying a lot of hurt from it?" Chris said incredulously. "What the hell did you have done to you Stephanie? Did you have a person that you loved come out and say they were just using you for their own pleasure huh? I mean, God Stephanie, if anyone should be hurt, it's me. I introduced you to my parents, to my family for God's sakes. I told my mother that you could be someone I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and how am I going to explain to them what happened? Oh hey Mom, Dad, remember Stephanie, well, turns out she only used me to get to some other guy? Get off your high horse Stephanie."

"Stop!" Stephanie said loudly, cutting into Chris's rant. She steeled herself. "I'M not hurt."

"You just said that you were carrying a lot of hurt, or am I suddenly deaf now too?"

"I'm carrying YOUR hurt!" Stephanie yelled at him. "Not my hurt, YOURS!"

"What the hell are you talking about Stephanie?"

"Look at me," Stephanie said, gesturing towards herself. "Look at the way that I look, do you think this is really me? You spent months with me, tell me this is how I always looked."

He couldn't do that because she didn't look the way that she always looked. She looked far, far worse. He had noticed it earlier when they had seen each other, when her hair was ratty and gross and she looked worse for the wear. She had cleaned up for her date, but now she looked even worse, no makeup covering up the dark circles under her eyes, the hollow look in her face. She did look a sorry sight right now, but Chris had not taken notice until this moment.

"You do look different, but how is that my fault?" Chris asked, not wanting to dwell on how bad she looked, but on why she was here.

"Because I know you're hurt, and I know that I hurt you, and I'm carrying around all this hurt because I know that I caused it. I hurt you, and I feel your hurt."

"Look, I'm getting over you Stephanie," Chris said. "I have a date with Lita and I'm getting over you. You'll just be another notch on the old belt, don't worry about it."

"I worry because I'm not sleeping."

"So once again, this all comes back to you," Chris said flippantly. She had such a penchant for being able to turn things around and make them about her. He used to find it endearing. But now it just irritated him. He wanted to go to bed, and here she was, talking about how she was hurt for him. Was that pity?

"No, that's not it."

"Look, I don't need your pity Stephanie, I don't need anything from you. I'm going to be fine. I'm pretty much fine as it is, and if you would just leave me alone, I think I would get over it a lot faster."

"I'm not pitying you," she argued.

"Well good then. And stop feeling hurt because of me. Look, you were just a bad relationship, that's how I think of it. Yeah, you used me and you pretended everything with me, but you know what? I can learn to deal with it. If you would just leave me alone."

"I just felt like I needed to tell you though."

"And you told me, and I've listened and frankly I don't have anything to say to you. I never did. You promised you would stop talking to me, and I was hoping that you would stick with that promise, but you haven't exactly lived up to it."

"I know," she said, looking down, taking his harsh words. She looked up at him then, with nothing but honesty in her eyes. "I just never realized it would be this hard."

Chris closed his eyes, "Steph…come on. It wasn't me you wanted in the first place."

"I know," she said, "I know that, but I just…I got accustomed to you I guess. It's just weird not talking to you. Do you think someday…down the line, maybe….maybe we could talk again, as friends or something."

"Maybe," he conceded. He didn't know if that was going to be the case, didn't know if he was actually going to go through with what he just said, but at this point, he just wanted Stephanie out of his room. He could hardly stand being around her for this long. He didn't like thinking about her, not for long periods anyways, because it brought back the hurt, it brought back everything she had done, and it was still too soon, still raw in his heart. "To be honest Stephanie, you're not my favorite person right now, or my second favorite, or my third. You're pretty much the last person that I want to see ever."

"Oh," Stephanie said, standing up at this. "Well, at least I know your feelings now. At least I know. Chris, when we were together, I never wanted to tell you why I was with you. I meant for it to last two weeks, maybe a month, I didn't expect it to last as long as it did, but the more time that I spent with you, the more time that we were around each other, I found it harder and harder to go through with my plan."

"So what Stephanie? You were just going to string me along the entire time, letting me think that you loved me, all the while wanting to hop into bed with Dave? What if I had proposed, what if I had wanted to have a child, you would've gone along with it because you didn't want to hurt my feelings…even though you probably pictured Dave every single time we had sex."

"No! That's not true!" Stephanie protested. "When I was with you, I was WITH you. There was nothing faked about that. But I could've gone longer, I just didn't…I knew that the light would fade, and I'm sorry."

"Ok, you said your piece, now get out," Chris said, his voice barely raising, but she knew that he meant business, knew that she should leave.

She didn't say another word, and even if she could've thought up a word to say to him, she knew it would've been inadequate, would not nearly be what he deserved. She didn't turn back, didn't stumble or fall, or go back and cling to him as if her life depended on it. She wanted to do something, Chris was like a magnet and she found the harder she fought against it, the more she was going to be pulled in, the more she was closing in on something…something she couldn't figure out.

She left him then, intending to go back to her room, but it was so quiet and so empty and so…lonely. She didn't want to be alone again. She just didn't want to feel that cold room enclosing around her. But she couldn't go back to Chris, he would throw her out again. He would throw her out, and she would just miss his arm anyways. So she went to the next person that came to mind.

"Steph, what are you doing here?" Dave asked when he answered his door not too long later.

"I just didn't want to be alone tonight."

"Did something happen?" Dave asked.

"No, nothing happened, I just…I really hate being in my room by myself, it's just so…creepy or something," she lied and was glad that she hadn't cried tonight so her eyes weren't puffy.

"Yeah, I guess they can get that way," Dave said, moving out of the way. "You're in luck, I got a double room tonight. Two beds."

"Thanks," Stephanie said, smiling up at him. It wasn't exactly what she was going for, but she would take it. Maybe she would work her way up with Dave and soon it would be his arm that was across her stomach, and then she wouldn't have to miss Chris's arm anymore, she wouldn't want it there when it wasn't. She could adapt, she could adjust, she just needed a little bit of time was all.

The door closed behind her, and she smiled at the future.


	13. Chapter 13

So Stephanie was with Dave Batista. She had gotten exactly what she had wanted all along. She had gotten the man of her dreams in her grasp. Never let it be said that Stephanie never got what she wanted. She was Stephanie McMahon, and she had always gotten what she desired, and this was no exception. She and Dave had spent more time together, and found that they enjoyed each other's company very much, and dating seemed the obvious thing to do.

Stephanie barely even thought of Chris anymore either. She just didn't find the time to think about him. She saw him occasionally, that was inevitable as they worked together, but it always amounted to a slight nod, barely perceptible, barely even there, and thaws just fine with her. She didn't want to think about him, and she didn't even feel the need to talk about him either.

"Davey," Stephanie said, calling him by the nickname she had adopted. "My dad says he sees big things in your future."

"Is that right?" Dave asked as he looked over at her. "And do you have any influence in that?"

"Nope, none at all. Apparently my dad sees something special in you," Stephanie said sweetly, then followed up with a coy smile. "I guess he just sees what I see."

"And what do you see Steph?"

"I can't tell you that. I'm not putting anything out there for you to hold over my head. You'll have to just be patient and hope that over time I tell you."

"Yeah, I'm sure you'll tell me," Dave said with a shake of the head. "You wouldn't tell me anything if you couldn't help it because you think that you can't get anywhere if you don't have the power."

"Are you saying that I'm a power hog?" Stephanie asked, getting up and walking slowly over to Dave. She sat down on her knees next to him, sitting up a little so that she could look down on him.

"Yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying," Dave said with a smile to let her know that he wasn't being very serious.

"Well that's not nice," Stephanie pouted. "Now you have to make it up to me."

"I do?"

"Yeah, I mean, you don't want an upset girlfriend do you?" Stephanie asked. "Especially one who can put you in really stupid matches with really stupid people. And then tell them that they're going to win and not you."

"And you say you're not a power hog," Dave scolded, but kissed her to let her know silently that he was still joking. Stephanie always felt so little when he was kissing her. He was a big man. And he dwarfed her so much that she felt so tiny next to him, and she wasn't even a small girl. She liked that he was so big sometimes; he made her feel so safe.

"I'm not," Stephanie mumbled as she pulled away. "Now if I don't come up with things for the next feuds we're going to be doing, I'm going to be out of a job."

"Tragic," Dave said sarcastically as Stephanie glared at him. "I'm sorry, feel free to go ahead with whatever you need to do."

"Thank you. I'm almost done, I swear, and then we can go back to the hotel and go to sleep. You must be exhausted after your match tonight."

"Not really, it was a tag match so at least I got some breaks here and there, but I'm still tired."

"I know, and I just have to finish up this one thing, I swear," Stephanie said, furiously scribbling on a piece of paper. "This just comes with the territory you know."

"I know, and I accept that. I don't think I've been rude about it, have I?"

"No, I just didn't want you thinking that I was going to not let you know that I work a lot."

"I know you do, it's fine, I work too, I know how it goes."

"And done!" Stephanie said, gathering up her papers quickly and shoving them into her briefcase. "I'm finally done and we can finally go back to the hotel."

"Finally," Dave joked as he took Stephanie's things from her. She smiled and took his free hand as they walked out of the arena. They were two of the last people there since Stephanie had work that needed to be done after the show. She yawned into her hand as he opened the door to their rental car.

A short while later they were in bed and Stephanie was snuggling against him, trying to find a good position. He took up a lot of the room in the bed, which was the one caveat to having a big, strong man in her bed. But would she trade it for anything in the world? No, she wouldn't because Dave was something else. He was not too shabby in the bedroom department and she smirked to herself at that thought, glad that the lights were off for the most part and Dave couldn't see her smirk.

The room became quiet as she heard Dave's breath slowly down into a hypnotic rhythm. She wasn't as tired as he was, not having done anything too strenuous that evening. So she lay there, staring up at the ceiling, just listening to Dave breathe. He was so warm against her and he warmed up the entire bed, most of which he took up. She felt comfortable and very safe.

Stephanie had lied…to herself mostly.

She did think of Chris, though she tried to forget it by the morning light, but when it was late, when the sky was still lit by tiny specks of faraway stars, she thought of him. She couldn't help it. When there was nothing else to think about, her mind wandered, and oftentimes they wandered in the wary direction of Chris.

It wasn't even big stuff, more like…well…she just wondered how he was. She figured he was fine, because whenever she saw him, for those brief moments, he seemed fine. But seeming fine was NOT being fine, and she didn't know if he was fine. She had heard, through whispers and gossiping mouths that he had been seeing Lita a few times, and that seemed to be a budding relationship. She didn't think much about that because it sent her stomach into these odd knots. She shouldn't care because she had Dave, and she didn't really care, she was worried in a broad sense, like how someone worries about nuclear war, it's in the back of their minds, but you don't really think about it prevalently.

There was another issue that made her think of him during the long nights and she didn't even admit it to herself. Admitting it was true would only complicate things and make them into issues. She didn't want to have any more issues with Chris. It just felt weird because she had taken their charade too far. She should've stopped it earlier, before she learned so much about Chris. He may not believe her, but she had learned a lot about him, had listened to him when he talked, had studied his eyes and his body language.

She had been in a relationship with Chris, she realized, too late, and when he didn't care. Yes, she was using him, but she had been with him too, and it went beyond the using. It was real, and sometimes…for a nanosecond, she missed it. But that was just how every person sometimes, just for a second, misses a past relationship. It was nothing in the long run, just a stopover in your brain.

Dave's arm was too heavy.

That was when Stephanie thought about Chris the most. When Dave draped his arm across her stomach. It was bulky and weighted with muscle. Don't get her wrong, she loved his arms, they were so strong and when they were wrapped around her, it felt like a wall, a fortress that was there to shield her from everything. But at night, when he was asleep, and he lay his arm across her stomach, well…it just wasn't the same.

Chris's arm, well, it had been…different. Not as heavy and it always seemed to blanket her. She would always find herself caressing it and smiling, knowing that it was there. That's just how it was. But the same could not be said for Dave's arm. Sometimes she felt like the oxygen was slowly pushing out of her under the weight. It was a huge arm, and it wasn't anything like Chris's.

Why she was obsessing over this, she wouldn't be able to tell you, but it stuck in her craw some. She wanted to stop thinking about it for obvious reasons, but when she tried to, it would come creeping back into her mind at the strangest moments, like now for instance. She wanted to shove his arm off most of the time. It wasn't the right arm and she knew that was bothering her. But she had Dave, and she was happy, happier than she had ever been with Chris.

What Stephanie failed to notice was the fact that she thought she hadn't been happy with Chris because she had spent most of that relationship thinking about how guilty she felt. She couldn't go one day without thinking of the way that she was using Chris, and that ate away at her. It ate away and left her with the bad memories of how she had felt with Chris, but she didn't see all the good times that she had with Chris.

She wiggled herself out from under Dave's arm. She didn't know why she let this get to her. She should've been able to move on by now. It was fake, it was all fake. Everything between her and Chris was fake. But if it was fake, why was this feeling so real? She hated to see him with Lita, hated it and she never wanted to admit that because it solidified something that she wasn't ready to hear.

She decided that she needed a drink, badly, and she knew the bar downstairs was open until four. She didn't want to break open the mini-bar, just in case Dave woke up and wondered what the hell she was doing. She figured a good drink would help her sleep, or it would at least help her sort out these confusing feelings that she was having. If anything it would make her forget, at the worse she wouldn't remember who Chris was for a couple of hours.

She slipped on a pair of pants and a leather jacket, grabbing a room key as she headed downstairs to the bar. There were still quite a few people there, watching Sportscenter on the television or playing pool, or like the couple in the corner making out. She sat down at the bar and ordered up a rum and Coke, she might as well start out light and work her way to the heavy stuff. The bartender got it for her and she paid him before taking a relaxing sip.

"A pretty woman shouldn't drink alone."

She looked to her left and saw a sleazy looking man sitting next to her. "I'm just having a nightcap thanks."

"But you still shouldn't be alone, not this late at night. You're too pretty to be alone. Why don't you let me keep you company?"

"No thank you."

"Oh come on, I'll even buy you a drink," he offered.

"Really, I'm fine, I just got my drink."

"Every drink deserves another. I haven't done my one good deed for the day, so if you allow me to buy you a drink then I can fulfill that need."

"Why don't you find someone else to ask? I'm sure that guy down there would like a drink," she said, pointing to a man practically slumped over the bar. "You can go do your good deed for him."

"But you're much more beautiful."

"Look, no thanks."

"Come on."

"Stephanie, baby, what are you doing down here? I've been looking all over for you."

Stephanie turned quickly and saw Chris standing there, by himself, looking at her. "Chris?"

"Yeah, you ran away. If you wanted to come get a drink, you should've woken me up. Who's this guy?" he asked, throwing a thumb in the direction of the annoying man.

"I don't know, just some man who wanted to buy me a drink."

"Hey, thanks buddy, you're willing to buy us a drink. My beautiful girlfriend can't be lying."

The man got up quickly and left, leaving Stephanie there with Chris. She couldn't believe that he had done that. After everything he had said, after everything she had done to him, he had still come to her aid. She couldn't believe the compassion that this man had. How had she not seen it so clearly when they were together. Chris sat down next to her and ordered a Corona from the bartender.

"You shouldn't drink alone."

"Thanks for doing that."

"I just pretended we were still together," he shrugged.

"Speaking of drinking alone, shouldn't you take your own advice and not drink alone?"

"I'm not, I'm drinking with you," he said, taking a swig from his beer. "Why aren't you up in your room?"

She couldn't answer him the way that she wanted to. How would it look to Chris if she told him that she was missing his arm? It would look so incredibly pathetic that he would laugh her out of here. And she couldn't bear that right now, especially after Chris had just saved her from having to be annoyed by that man.

"Couldn't sleep," she responded shortly. "You?"

"Same," he said, glancing down at his beer, swishing it around in his hand.

"You weren't supposed to want to talk to me."

"It's late, I must be tired and not thinking straight."

"Oh," she said, looking down at her own drink. "I'm glad you showed up if that means anything to you."

"Well, I have a hero complex, sue me."

"I didn't deserve to have you do that."

"I know you didn't, but I can't help it."

"I'm still really sorry."

"I know," he said, nodding to himself, and swishing his beer again. "I know."

"Yeah, but it still bears mentioning."

"Don't worry about it Steph," he said, chugging the rest of his beer down. "Let me walk you to you room. You never know when you're going to run into some unwanted ass."

"Sure you want to be seen with me?"

"I'm sure."

Stephanie took one last sip of her drink before she got off the stool. Chris pressed his hand against her lower back as he led her out of the bar. She could feel the warmth of his hand underneath her t-shirt as she had taken off her jacket a while ago. It felt good, too good, almost sinfully good. She almost wished he would wrap his arm around her. No, what was wrong with her? She had Dave, her dream guy, her DREAM GUY.

She showed him where he was staying and walked her right up to her door. She stood there awkwardly, shifting from foot to foot, awaiting what he would say, if he would say anything. He wasn't obligated to say anything, but she was thinking that he would. He looked around the hallway for a moment.

"Well, goodnight," he finally said after a few chilly moments.

"Night Chris. Take care of yourself."

"You too Steph," he said, and then he did something so unexpected. He leaned down and kissed her cheek. It was chaste as could be and he barely grazed her skin, but it had been a kiss nonetheless. She wanted to pull him back to her, but she let him walk away, watching his back as it got smaller and smaller the farther down the hallway he got.

She didn't know why, but she felt the same emptiness as the night that Chris left her.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews everyone, I hope that you keep reviewing since I love them so much. Enjoy. :)

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Stephanie looked off to the side, sighing. She was supposed to be working, but her mind was preoccupied. She was thinking about Chris again, and she knew that it was stupid, but she couldn't stop thinking about what he had done for her the other night. Sure, she could've probably taken care of that sleazy guy by herself; she was tough. But Chris had shown up and pretended to be her boyfriend to get him away. What did that mean? Did that mean he was over her? Or he was just a nice guy.

"Dad needs those papers Stephanie."

Stephanie looked up, "I'm almost done."

"You don't look it."

"I am, I was just thinking, is that a crime? Have we lost the freedom to be free thinkers? Do I have to submit every thought I have to you now? Is that it?"

"What the hell is going on with you?" Shane asked, sitting down across from her. "You don't have to be so goddamn touchy, I was just stating a simple sentence."

"Well, maybe I'm not in the mood for your observations of me, ok, I'm just sick and tired of people butting into my life, thinking that I'm a little girl. I'm not a little girl anymore, I can think for myself."

"Stephanie, nobody said you couldn't," Shane told her angrily. She fumed for a second before calming down. "What is wrong with you?"

Stephanie looked at him. "You've been in love, right Shane? I mean, you're married, you're in love, right?"

"Yeah, I can say that I've been in love yes," Shane laughed. "Why?"

"How did you know you loved Marissa? How did you know that she was the one for you? How did you know?"

"I don't know, it's just like, you can't stop thinking about them, and you know that you don't want to be with anyone else, and you can't picture yourself with anyone else. Like, I pictured Marissa being with me, and when I thought about other girls, that thought didn't occur to me."

"See, that makes perfect sense to me."

"So my little sister is in love with Dave Batista," Shane nodded. "Well, he's a nice guy, you could do a lot worse than Dave. And I know that Dad likes him, or rather what he brings to the table."

Stephanie blinked slowly. "No, I don't think that's it at all."

"What are you talking about Stephy girl?"

"I think I'm in love with Chris."

"Well it's about damn time you figured that out," Shane said, relieved. "Do you know how I've wanted to tell you that you were kidding yourself over this whole Dave thing? I mean, I could see this coming a mile away and when I TOLD you that you were in love with him, you balked and got angry at me."

"Well I didn't know!" Stephanie said. "I mean, I was…I don't know. You're right, I was immature. I was so immature."

"Yeah, that's a good word for it," Shane laughed.

"And now you're laughing at me, wonderful," Stephanie said sarcastically. "I deserve it, I deserve all of it."

"Stephanie, I've been telling you that you were in love with him for a long time. I should be able to laugh because you were stupid and I was right."

"And this is helping me how?"

"Look, I'm not here to solve your problems for you Stephanie. You know that Chris is a good friend of mine, I'm not going to be objective because I think what you did to Chris was pretty shitty. I'll say this though, he doesn't talk about you to me, so I don't know what's going on his mind when it comes to you. I'm also not going to mine information from him for you."

"I wasn't going to ask you to do that."

"I'm just covering all my bases Stephy girl."

"Look, I'm starting to realize just what I did to Chris, and it's all bad. There's no reason why he should or would want me, and I understand that. I'm not going to ask for him back, I'm not going to say anything about it, it's my burden to bear."

"You know Stephy girl, I love you, you're my sister, but sometimes, I just don't get you. You find something…someone that you want, and then you just completely give up. That's not like you. You are not the kind of person that doesn't go after what you want. Isn't that what you did with Chris in the first place, you were trying to get Dave."

"I know, but I think I love Chris and if I love Chris than…what I did to him…he'd never want me Shane," Stephanie said, being brutally honest, not only with herself, but with her brother as well.

After what she had done to Chris, she didn't deserve his love. She almost didn't want it because of what she had done. It should be her burden to bear. Something had snapped in her when she realized that she might be in love with Chris. It was like her selflessness reflex had suddenly kicked in without her knowing it. She found that she just couldn't bear to put Chris through anything that might hurt him. Maybe that was love.

"You never know until you try Steph," Shane told her. "It may sound cliché, but it's true."

She shook her head. "Look Shane, I appreciate the advice, I really do, but this isn't something that I'm going to pursue."

"Fine Stephy girl, if that's the way you want it to be…"

"It is," Stephanie told him. She grabbed the papers off of her desk. "Here, give these to Dad for me."

Shane took the papers and left the room. He didn't like seeing his sister like this. She wasn't sad, it was just like she had given up. Stephanie had never given up in her life. To see her doing it now was just like a blow to him. That wasn't his sister in there. Maybe she had grown up, stop believing that the world was her oyster. But a part of his liked his sister as this hard-headed, stubborn woman.

He dropped off the papers to his dad and went to find Chris. Despite Stephanie's failed relationship with Chris, he and Chris had remained friends. But then again, Chris didn't know that Shane knew everything that had happened. Maybe if he knew that Shane knew he'd be a little less willing to talk to him. He went to the most obvious place as to where Chris could be, his locker room.

"So we need to talk," Shane said as soon as Chris opened the door.

"Shane, are you breaking up with me!" Chris joked.

"You wish man," Shane said, shaking Chris's hand. "Actually, just wanted to see how you were doing?"

"Since when have you cared that much about me?"

"I'm not a man who minces words, so I'll say what I have to say upfront. I know what happened between you and Stephanie."

"Doesn't everyone?" Chris asked critically. "We broke up, everyone knows we broke up."

"No, I KNOW what happened to you guys," Shane said. "As in, her using you."

"She told you that?" Chris asked, disgusted that she would spill their personal lives. "She told you how she wanted Dave and how she was just using me to get to him?"

"Yeah, she did," Shane nodded. "I've know about it since a week or so after you broke up. I told her she was an idiot."

"Yeah," Chris said with a laugh. "Well she doesn't deserved to be talked about any more, I'm through with her Shane. We can't go back."

"I'm not saying she even wants to, I'm just saying I know. And I know that my sister is sometimes really naïve and she does hurtful things, but she does try to correct the situation sometimes. So if in the near future, she comes and talks to you, just listen ok. From a friend to a friend, think of it as a personal favor."

"Do you know how much she hurt me?" Chris said, sitting down and reminiscing. "Do you know how she ripped my heart into shreds?"

"I do."

"No, no you don't Shane. I told her I loved her, she told me she used me. There I was, listening to her speak, and I thought everything was fine. I took her to meet my parents for God's sakes! I thought she could be the one, and then I told her I loved her and she tore me down. How do you think that made me feel Shane?"

"Yeah, but need I remind you of Allison, remember her?"

"Shut up man," Chris said. "That was unavoidable."

"You don't think I didn't know you were in love with my sister for the longest time. You strung Allison along for ten months, and then dumped her when you thought you might have a chance with Stephanie. You love my sister."

"I LOVED your sister," Chris corrected. "As in the past tense. After what she did to me, I hardly think I'm going to be loving her again."

"So you're going to punish her then? For the rest of your life, you're going to punish her."

"Why do you care so much anyways Shane?" Chris asked.

"Hello! My sister and one of my closest friends getting together, that's a dream. That way I wouldn't have to worry constantly about my little sister's well-being. As you know, she's not exactly the most perceptive person in the world, so I kind of have to worry about her."

"Why worry? She's got Dave Batista. She got what she wanted. I don't see how anything she does has to do with me anymore, I'm an ex, nothing more."

"Fine, I'm just saying that my sister, she's allowed mistakes sometimes too. And you still love her, I don't think I heard you outright deny it."

"I don't love your sister," Chris said. "Any love that I had towards her is gone, completely."

"Ok, so I guess my dream has to die and I'm going to be stuck with Dave as a brother-in-law."

"I guess so," Chris said. "That's what Stephanie wanted, and that's what Stephanie got."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Shane stood up and went to the door. "I'll see you later Chris."

"Bye."

Once Shane left, Chris put his head in his hands. He was upset now. He didn't like thinking about Stephanie. She had ripped his heart out, stomped on it and then laughed in his face, and you didn't get over that, no matter how long after the fact it was. Seeing her with Dave now, it just cemented the fact that she wasn't his. And God help him, he still loved her. He couldn't admit it to Shane, because it might subsequently get back to Stephanie, and that was the last thing he needed.

He didn't need this distraction as he went out for his match against Edge. He got in the ring and jumped around a little bit, clearing his head of thoughts of Stephanie. He had a match to worry about right now, and he couldn't have any brunettes invading his thoughts. Edge's music hit and he ran down to the ring, immediately going after Edge with some right hands.

They went back and forth, each one gaining and losing the upper-hand at first. Finally, Chris got the definitive upper-hand and swung Edge into the ropes, hitting him with a devastating clothesline and knocking him to the mat. Chris grabbed one of Edge's leg and did an elbow drop on his knee. Then he did it again for good measure. When he knew that Edge was going to be on the ground for a bit, he climbed up on the middle rope and did a flying elbow on him. He ran to do the Lionsault, but Edge moved and he landed on his feet.

Edge was quick to move to the ropes and speared Chris to the mat. While this was going on. Stephanie walked out and over to the announcer's table, glancing at Chris as he was caught in a headlock by Edge. She sat down next to JR and grabbed the extra set of headphones, slipping them on as she went back to watching the mat, or more specifically, watching Chris in the match.

"Stephanie, to what do we owe the pleasure?" Lawler asked.

"Well, you know King, I thought that someone might be in need of my services and I came out here to see if any of these guys is worthy of having Stephanie McMahon in their corner."

"We're definitely worthy of having someone as beautiful as you out here," Lawler said excitedly.

"Well thank you King, do you have anything to say JR?"

"Weren't you already in Chris's corner?" JR asked.

"I was, but I was thinking that I could make a change," Stephanie said, knowing this was going against everything written. But Shane was right, she wasn't someone who took things lying down. Maybe she'd never get Chris back and that was a real possibility, but it didn't hurt to try. And it certainly didn't hurt to try in a very roundabout way.

Chris glanced up and caught sight of Stephanie sitting at the announcer's table. He was shocked by her presence and got distracted as Edge took his knee out from under him, causing him to collapse on the mat. He knew that he was supposed to win his match, but his mind had just gone blank and he couldn't concentrate. Edge started punching him in the head and he had to think quick as he got up and got Edge into an Irish whip. He knocked him down and turned him over, putting him in the Walls. Edge made a valiant try for the ropes, but tapped out.

He saw Stephanie stand up from where she was sitting and applaud for him. He stood there, dumbfounded, as his arm was held up in victory. He ignored everything though, because all he saw was Stephanie standing there. She locked eyes with him for a moment before slowing walking away from the table and towards the backstage area, her eyes never leaving his.

She was definitely up to something…and it gave Chris an uneasy feeling.


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: They'll probably only be one more chapter, letting you guys know. :)

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Chris stalked backstage after his match. He wanted to see Stephanie now, no, he needed to see Stephanie now. He had to find out what the hell she had been doing out there. He had not heard word one about this new development. As far as he knew, Stephanie was not supposed to be out there during his match. He wanted answers and Stephanie had those answers and he needed to find her and ask her what she was trying to pull.

Stephanie had high-tailed it out of there. Not because she was afraid of confronting Chris, but because she needed to see Dave. She liked Dave, she really did, but she should've realized. What should she have realized exactly? Well, she should have realized that Dave was a good friend, but that once she had started to fall for Chris, she should've recognized that she had fallen for Chris.

It might be too late now for her and Chris, but she at least had to try, and if she had learned anything in the past few months, it was that she couldn't use people for her own personal gain. She couldn't use Dave like she had used Chris. If Chris had given her anything in their time together, it was the maturity to come to a decision like this. She knocked quietly on Dave's door, knowing that she didn't want to do this, but that it was necessary.

"Come in," came his rough, yet sweet voice. She closed her eyes and then took a deep breath before entering the room.

She walked inside and Dave didn't smile. Stephanie looked at him sheepishly. "You know what I'm here for."

"I kind of gleaned on to the fact yes, sit down," he said, gesturing to the seat next to her. "Something tells me you have a lot to say."

"I do, and none of it is anything I want to say."

"I'll listen."

"You're too sweet Dave, and nobody gets to see this side of you. Well, maybe that's a good thing since you want to actually intimidate the fans and not make them think of you as a big softie."

He laughed and grabbed her hand. "You're stalling Steph."

"I am," she looked down. "You saw me go out during Chris's match."

"Yeah, and I figured that if you were to go out to Chris's match that there might be something that you want to discuss with me over it. I didn't see that in the script anywhere."

"I got my dad to change it on short notice."

"That explains that then."

"I wasn't in love with Chris when we started…ok, I was, but I wasn't aware of it. Chris and I…"

"Take your time Steph."

"You are too nice Dave," Stephanie said, grabbing his hand and holding it in both of hers. "You're really something special, and for so long I saw that. When you were in Evolution, when I was with Hunter, God, all I could think about was you and how you were so different, a good different, a very good different. I was so attracted to you, I wanted you so much that I did something I'm not proud of now."

"Which is?"

"I used Chris to get to you," Stephanie explained bluntly. There was no use beating around the bush. The truth was the truth and the only way that it would come out was from her own lips. She had screwed up everything because she had been such a child. A silly, little child who thought the entire world revolved around her and that people were just supposed to fall down at her feet and cater to her every whim.

"Oh."

"I wanted to make you jealous, to make you notice me and I thought if you saw me with Chris, you'd realize how much you wanted me, silly huh?"

"Yeah, you could've just told me, or asked me out or something," he told her easily.

"I know that now, but back then, I thought, well, this is the only way to get you, and I was stupid for thinking that and even more stupid for using Chris like I did. Chris had told me prior to this plan of mine that he had had feelings for me. I told him that there was no chance for us, but then I thought I could use him so I went to him and entered a relationship with him, and he was so happy, and for a while there, I was happy, and I didn't want to hurt him."

"But you ended up hurting him," Dave said, and there was no malice or derisiveness in his voice at her actions. He was simply listening to a story, and she was telling it in such a way that he was compelled to listen.

"As time passed, I realized that I didn't want to hurt Chris, and every second I was with him, I was hurting him a little bit more and he didn't even know it. Then one night, he told me he loved me and I couldn't string him along anymore, it had gone too far. So I told him the truth and he left, and…it hurt more than I thought it would. After that, we made a deal never to speak to one another again, because he basically bore his soul to me and I stomped on his heart."

"Then you went after me…"

"Yeah, but after a while, not like the day after this happened. And you're great, don't think you aren't, but then as time passed, as I thought about it more and more, I came to the conclusion that you're great, you are a great…friend to me. Nothing else, and that doesn't take away from your wonderful qualities, I just…my perspective changed, I guess."

"And you saw what was there all along."

"Yeah, I saw what was there all along, and that was Chris."

"I figured as much, when you wouldn't discuss him at all, and then tonight just confirmed my suspicions. It's been fun Steph, but I've been reading the writing on the wall for a while now."

"So you're not…angry?" she asked him.

"Nah," Dave said. "Relationships come and go and if you're lucky enough to find the right person, you grab onto them and you don't let go."

"You're WISE too?" Stephanie said, slapping her forehead. "Dave Batista, is there anything that you can't do?"

"Not too fond of spiders," he said, cringing a little. Stephanie threw her arms around him. Dave hugged her back affectionately.

"You know, if I had just asked you out in the first place, I think we could've been great together," she whispered in his ear.

"Are you using a line on me Stephanie McMahon?"

"Might," Stephanie giggled, then pulled away. "Seriously though Dave, I've never met anyone like you, and I don't think I'm going to, and I sincerely hope that we can remain friends, if that's ok with you?"

"It's perfect with me," he told her. "I think we make great friends too, and I would hate to lose a friend because she happened to fall in love with another guy."

"Yeah, too bad I can't get that guy," she shrugged. "But it's just as well, really, because I learned something. And that's almost as good."

"Can't get the guy? Stephanie McMahon not getting a guy? That seems harsh."

"Chris has told me that he doesn't want have anything to do with me, and I really should respect that."

"So what was with the stunt you pulled tonight?"

"Just fun I guess," Stephanie said. This was weird; she and Dave had just broken up and yet they had this great repertoire where they were just hanging out like friends. She was thankful that it had gone easily with Dave, but that didn't solve anything with her and Chris.

"Are you sure this isn't something you want to pursue? It just seems so out of character for you to not go after something you really want."

"Maybe I'm growing up and realizing that I can't have everything my way, no matter how hard I wish for it. I'm not a kid anymore, I don't get everything that I want."

"Well, if that's the way you feel," Dave told her. "Then do what you feel is right."

She hugged him again. "Thanks Dave, I'm going to go. I think I still have some work that my dad needs me to do."

"We rode her together, you want me to come get you after the show, we can go back to the hotel together."

"Yeah, thanks, and thanks for understanding."

"Plenty of fish in the sea as they say."

She smiled and kissed his cheek. It was hard letting go of Dave because he had been her dream for so long. But dreams can change and dreams can come to an end. And she would get over Chris like she had gotten over Dave. It would take time of course, but Chris wanted nothing to do with her and she had to respect that. But eventually, she'd find a way to move on, and Chris would be nothing more than an ex.

She felt a hand grab her arm harshly and she was turned around and face with those blue, blue eyes of his. She gulped because the look on his face was frightening. His jaw was set and his face emotionless, and that was scaring her. She expected anger, but not this passiveness. His eyes were another story altogether, they were flashing, like supernovas or something.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, his tone even. "What the hell were you doing out there?"

"I just wanted to have a little fun," Stephanie said softly. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"I thought we were going to stay out of each other's business. I thought that was the deal! We had a deal Stephanie. You were supposed to leave me alone!"

"I am leaving you alone," Stephanie argued. "I just went out there to mess around. I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea. I won't bother you again."

"But why did you go out there!"

"No reason!" Stephanie yelled, trying to pry his arm off of hers. "There was no reason!"

"Why the hell did you tell your brother the truth about him," he growled.

She looked confused for a moment at the change of subject. "He's my brother, he's always been there for me, I told him because I can confide in him."

"It was none of his business."

"He's my brother! I can tell my brother what I want to tell him."

"I don't get you McMahon. I just don't get you. What the hell are you trying to pull? Am I in one of your other little games huh?"

"No," she said, "I'm not playing you. Look, I respect that you don't want me, and however much I miss you, I respect that you don't want me anymore."

"Miss me? What are you talking about?"

Stephanie realized her slip-up and she shut her mouth right quick, looking down sheepishly at his hand, which was still wrapped around her arm. She hadn't even noticed. She ran her eyes over his hand and then up his arm, that arm that she missed so very much. She studied it for a moment, and then looked back up at him.

"Nothing, it's nothing," she said, wrenching her arm away before it became too much for her to bear.

"No, you're not going anywhere until you explain!"

"It's nothing!"

"Tell me!"

"I miss you!"

Chris was taken aback by what she had just uttered. He never expected her to say that. She was saying that she missed him. That was so out of the blue that Chris didn't know how to respond to it and so he stood there. In a storybook, or a fairy tale, Stephanie would've walked away, and he would've done something grand, but this was not a fairy tale, and she stood her ground. She stood there and she looked at him straight in the eye, unmoving, and unwavering in her words.

She was embarrassed that she had no control over what she had said, but she was not regretting having said it. It was the truth after all, and she would have to face it one way or another. She missed Chris, she had missed him since the moment the door clicked shut on that night so long ago that he had walked out on her. She had missed him through her entire relationship with Dave, and after that she realized the truth, the truth that she was crazy about Chris.

"What?" was Chris's sophisticated reply.

"I said I missed you, and it's true," she said, not moving, staying in one spot.

"Why?" another sophisticated response.

"Because I'm stupid," she said, "And you'll never hear me say that again, but I was. I was immature, just like Shane told me I was. I wanted something so badly, and I was so blinded by it, that I didn't see that you were there, that you were always there."

"You're with Dave," he said, confused now.

"No, I'm not, I broke up with him. We're friends, we're better friends. His…his arm wasn't right."

"Oh come on Stephanie, THAT'S the reason you broke up?" Chris scoffed. "And I thought the reason you broke up with me was heinous."

"No, you don't understand," Stephanie said, frustrated that her words were sounding stupider by the moment. She was having trouble finding the words that she wanted to say. How could she explain this adequately?

"Well, I don't really have the time to understand."

"I miss YOUR arm!" she said loudly, her voice rising with each word.

"Ok, this conversation just got extremely weird, and I don't know where you're going with this, but I'm not going to talk to you about crap like my arm."

Stephanie sighed and closed your eyes. "Do you remember when we would go to bed and you would lay your arm around my waist? I don't blame you if you don't, but do you?"

"Sure," he said, and though he didn't want to tell her outright that he remembered every night with her, not clearly and not every detail, but he remembered in his own way.

"Chris, it's a simple question, please," she said.

"Yeah, I remember," he said, and she smiled ever so slightly, glad that he remembered so that he could see where she was going with this.

"I got used to it, and it was the perfect weight and size, and do you remember how I would always just rub it when I was about to fall asleep?"

"Yeah," he answered wistfully, remembering how softly she would touch him. Sometimes she thought he was asleep, but he wasn't, he would just lie there and feel her caress his arm until it slowed to a stop when she fell asleep.

"I got used to it, and I miss it," she said, getting to the point. "And well, Dave's arm was too big and it felt like a huge weight on my stomach, but your arm was perfect."

"So you're saying I'm not the man that Dave is?" Chris asked, purposefully evading the meaning that she was trying to put behind the words she was saying.

"No, what I'm saying is that you were right for me, that your arm was perfect, and that you were perfect, and I just…I miss your arm."

The words meant more to Stephanie than she was letting on. His arm was just a metaphor for the rest of him. The arm that would rest on her stomach brought her comfort and safety that she had yet to find with anyone else. She hadn't realized that she loved those moments until she no longer felt that weight on her stomach, until she had nothing to caress before she fell asleep.

"Stephanie, don't do this now, you don't know what you're saying, ok? I mean, you miss my arm? That's so stupid."

"Chris, I just…I miss it, and I want your arm on my waist when I go to sleep."

"How dare you try and disrupt my life because you can't deal with things. You have NO right to come barging in here and saying that you miss me, no right at all."

"I know that," she told him quietly. "I know that I shouldn't try and change your mind, and I'm not. I'm not the same person I was then Chris, I just wanted you to know that. I've grown up, because you grow up when you lose something that's important to you. I've learned that you should fight for things that you want, but you should go about doing it in the right way. I'm sorry I took up so much of your time. I'm glad that you're moving on."

"You are?" He didn't want her to be glad, he realized.

"Yeah, because I treated you so poorly. It's better that I don't get what I want this time," she said, smiling bitterly. "I need to learn that sometimes I'm not going to get what I want, and this can be looked at as a learning lesson. I've learned my lesson, I'm never going to do what I did again. So I want you to be happy, because out of the two of us, you deserve to be happy the most, and I deserve to be the one who's alone."

"Stephanie, no you don't," Chris said, but she was already gone.

She didn't know what she should've expected, but she had hoped that it would go better. She walked away slowly, not once glancing back because she knew that he wasn't going to come out to her, and he wasn't going to come get her, because there was no point. She had gotten what she deserved. Stephanie's karma had come back to bite her in the ass.

She guessed that she would just have to move on. This must've been what Chris felt like when she had told him the truth. It hurt, and she thought to herself that it must've been fifty times harder for Chris because her declaration of the truth had come out of nowhere. At least Stephanie had built up her immunity for this moment. She had thought about it, and she had known that she might not get what she wanted out of this, and then it had come to fruition and she would have to deal with it.

She couldn't be angry with him though. After what she had done, she wouldn't expect him to take her back with open arms. Chris deserved so much better than her; he was such a nice guy. Her only lamentable thought was the fact that she had gone and fallen in love with him, but only realized it too late. If she had just kept on caressing his arm that night, had taken his words and wrapped herself in them, she could've been hugging him right now, anticipating the evening when that familiar weight would descend upon her stomach.

Chris stood there long after she left and he felt stupid in doing so. What she had said surprised him greatly. And it also made something inside of him snap too. Stephanie had said that she missed him. What gave her the right to miss him? He had spent weeks missing her and nothing had come of it, and now she missed him? She could be such a bitch sometimes, trying to interrupt his life once again, just when he was starting to heal.

Stephanie's night passed in a blur of paperwork and filming, and soon she was back in her hotel room, safely tucked away by herself. She changed into her comfiest pajamas and climbed into the large and mostly empty bed. She still slept on one side, she had never gotten used to taking up the whole bed. She patted the other side, giving a wistful and nostalgic smile before sliding down into it, feeling the coolness of the sheets against her bare feet. She settled herself in and lingered in the moment. This would be every moment from here on out, cold and lonely, and with too much room. She reveled in it, because she had to embrace it.

She closed her eyes and sleep came quickly to her tired brain. One hand slung over her stomach, waiting for an arm that would never show. Her head was turned off to one side, the side next to the floor, and not next to the pillow. Once upon a time it would face Chris, and sometimes during the night, she would somehow end up on his pillow, but now he had no pillow. She was the only one there, and she had to deal with that sad truth.

She was all alone.


	16. Chapter 16

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews for this story, each and every one who read this story deserves a thank you from me, so thank you. I hope you enjoyed the ride and I hope you enjoy the ending. :) Review and let me know what you think!

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Chris sat out on his balcony. There was a beer in his hand, but he hadn't drunk from it yet. He had thought that this would make him feel better, this beer, this alcohol, but he found that he didn't want to drink from it. He was unable to get sustenance from the liquid. He set it down on the ground next to him, leaning his feet up on the edge of the balcony, dangling over the ground.

His thoughts were on Stephanie and what they had fought about earlier. He had been slowly getting over her. It didn't hurt as much to see her, and it didn't sting whenever he saw Dave. Then she had to go and spring this on him. She had to go and say that she missed him. It was like, he was moving on and she was pulling him back to right where he had been before, and he didn't know if that's where he wanted to be.

He had had feelings for Stephanie for the longest time before they had started dating. It wasn't a crippling feeling or anything, but it had been there. When she had come to his room that night, he thought himself the luckiest man in the world. He was the luckiest man in the world at that moment. He never thought Stephanie would come to him, never thought he'd ever get to touch her or kiss her, but he had both.

Being with Stephanie was perfect, too perfect, and he should've known something was up with her. They were so good together, both of them were rude and cocky, but they could banter with the best of them. He had honestly thought they were great together, but everything had been a lie. Stephanie had been lying to him the entire time they had been together, and now she was saying that she was wrong. She was saying that she had been wrong to go after Dave, and that she had fallen for him, Chris Jericho.

And the whole thing about his arm, what had that malarkey been about? She missed his arm because it was always around her waist. It was a silly thing, stupid to miss someone's arm. If you were going to miss someone, you might as well miss all of them and not just parts of them. Who was to say that Stephanie wouldn't find another arm that was just as right for her waist? If he went back to her, she might just find another guy that she liked better and she'd run off with him.

He had lost a lot of trust for Stephanie when she had told him the truth. He could remember that night as clear as day, remember the sounds, the words, the look in her eyes and the way his heart had felt ripped in two. He had told her he loved her and she had ripped his heart out. He had been such a fool for falling for her. But how could he help it really? She had never given him the indication that she was really interested in another guy, and he had never looked for anything amiss.

He needed to stop thinking about her though. He had to move on. He had to move on for his own sake. He couldn't just let her rule over him. He couldn't let her use him again, he just couldn't. But then she had said she wasn't asking him to come back to her. She had just wanted to say that she missed him. That was it, nothing else, and she had even said she didn't deserve him. But what if she was just trying to mislead him again? This could just be more scheming.

He needed to sleep. He wanted to stop thinking about her. He wanted to move on. He needed to move on. Stephanie was a bump in the road of his life. Yes, he had fallen in love with her, but that was over. She had made that over the moment she had told him the truth. After that, nothing else mattered, because she had made it irrelevant. He got up, leaving the full beer bottle on the ground behind him. He just needed to rest now.

It was nighttime. The night was still, reaching that hour when things seemed to slow down and pause for just a moment. The air was calm, neither blowing, nor stagnant, but just calm enough to feel like there was no sound to be carried. The halls of the hotel were empty, quiet, the light shining off the loud carpet and nothing more. Everyone seemed to be asleep.

Stephanie was asleep as well, the only sound in her hotel room being the soft buzz of the mini-fridge and the rhythmic breathing from Stephanie herself. She shifted in the large bed, hitting nothing but cold blankets and sheets. She didn't have anyone. Dave wasn't what he turned out to be, and Chris wanted nothing to do with her. But tomorrow was another day and she would go on.

She looked peaceful now, her dark hair a stark contrast from the white of the pillowcases she was lying on. The blanket was pulled up to her neck, keeping her warm from the cold that had settled itself nicely onto the unoccupied parts of the bed. The clock on the nightstand blinked out the time, 2:48 in the morning, though Stephanie was too asleep to notice the time at all. But someone was noticing the time.

Suddenly, the doorknob was turning, breaking the pristine silence in the room. The light flooded in as the door opened, but quickly disappeared back into the hallway as the door was quietly shut. Then there was the inky darkness again, and the room became seeped in it until there were almost no distinguishable shapes. The dark mass went into the bedroom, and undressed, leaving a trail of clothes, before climbing into the bed and turning over to fall asleep.

Stephanie awoke an hour later, the night still dark, but not so threatening. She yawned and rubbed the arm that was thrown across her stomach. Then she gasped as she realized that wasn't her arm across her stomach. No, this arm was just the right weight, and just the right…

"Chris," she whispered, her voice still hoarse with sleep.

"Hmm?" he mumbled, not giving a positive or negative response, sort of just grunting.

"You're here," she breathed, turning on her side to face him. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?"

"Well, you said you missed my arm, and I sort of come attached to it, so if you want the arm, you're going to have to take the rest of me as well," he told her, opening his eyes to look at the dark shape she made.

Stephanie reached out to make sure he was real, brushing the hair out of his face, and then reaching over him to turn the lamp on to the lowest setting, which gave off just enough light to give the room a soft glow. She laid back down facing Chris and smiled, her eyes shining with exhaustion, but with something else as well. She touched Chris's face again and ran her thumb over his cheek.

"How did you get in my room?"

"Bribes."

She nodded, "So if I want your arm, I have to take the whole thing?"

"The whole thing," he said, reinforcing her question.

"I'll take it," she grinned. "But I don't understand…you were so angry with me."

"Well, they don't call them epiphanies for nothing, you know," he said. "You went into something thinking it would go one way and it didn't. You told me that you were using me, and that hurt so much--"

"And I'm so sorry that happened," Stephanie interjected. "I realized that I was so wrong."

"I know," he said kindly. "But you got what you wanted after we broke up, and you realized that it wasn't for you."

"No, it wasn't. I thought it would be great, but it wasn't. Dave's a good friend, but he's…not what I need."

"And then you realize that I'm the one that you need, and I have needed you for so long," Chris told her honestly. "And I thought to myself, why should I let her go if I don't have to? You screwed up big time, you hurt me big time, but Stephanie, you're the woman that I want, and I have to suck it up and swallow that hurt."

"Chris, no, you don't, because you have my sincerest apology for what I did. I shouldn't have done it; it was awful of me to use you like that."

"Yeah, it was, and I was thinking about it earlier, and I really didn't want to come back here. I didn't want to come back to you."

"You shouldn't have," she agreed.

He touched her face. "Don't talk like that."

"But it's true," she said sheepishly. "I don't deserve you."

"Let's not talk about who deserves whom ok? It's not about me deserving you or you not deserving me. If I want to be here then that's my decision. I can be here if it's my choice to be here."

"But after what I did, Chris, you didn't deserve--"

He pushed his finger against her lips and then replaced his finger with his mouth, kissing her mouth softly. She sighed happily against his lips as she felt them on hers. "I said stop talking about deserving this or not."

"Ok, I'll try."

"You won't try, you're going to, because I don't want to hear it, really, I don't. If you do, I'll walk out again and then where are you going to get another arm? The morgue?"

She laughed, climbing on top of him and straddling his hips. She stared down at him, "You're really here."

"I'm here, so don't go walking into my matches unannounced so I lose my focus and then lose," he told her, staring up at her eyes, which were dancing in happiness.

"I'll have to come back with you," she said excitedly. "And we'll get you the World Title. I swear, we'll get you the title. I'll talk to Daddy and he'll…"

"Ok, you're going a little bit overboard," he told her, grabbing her hands and holding them in his own. "I don't need any of that, no matter how enticing it is."

"I thought you were dating Lita," Stephanie admitted guiltily, "when I saw you talking to her the other day. I heard something about a date."

"It wasn't a date, Lita has a crush on someone and I was asking her out on a 'date' in order to grill her for more information about said guy. I was actually playing a go-between with them."

"Oh," she said, sighing in relief. "I'm so happy you're here."

"Good, it'd kind of suck if you hated that I was here."

"Never!"

"So can I go to sleep now, or are you going to sit on me the entire night?" Chris asked playfully.

"You want to sleep!" she exclaimed incredulously.

"It's 3:30 in the morning, I'm sorry if I'm not exactly up for sex," he said. "Maybe if you had woken up when I got here, I might've felt like it, but I'm tired, but maybe in the morning?"

"Definitely in the morning," Stephanie nodded, leaning down to press her body to his and kiss him deeply.

"NOW can I go to bed?"

Stephanie nodded and rolled over so she was next to him again. She sat up and reached over again to turn off the light. The room was silent once again, but not as silent as it was before. Chris and Stephanie fell into sleep rather easily, letting what was left of the night roll over them, and lull them to sleep again. Their breathing filled the room with sound. Stephanie had a smile on her face as she fell asleep, Chris next to her again.

A familiar weight on her stomach.

And that was just what she needed.

THE END


End file.
